Dark Souls 2 will be coming to PC, not just ported as an afterthought

Subject: General Tech | April 24, 2013 - 02:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, Dark Souls II, consolitis, masochism

Dark Souls made a name for its self as one of the toughest and most unforgiving games going and built a huge following because of that.  The sequel will be coming to PC as well but the one major negative comment many gamers had about the original will no longer be applicable, according to the developers this version will not suffer from consolitis.  Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN has about as much information as is available on this game but to truly understand what this game will be like you should check out the YouTube preview below.

"A word of warning: I have never played Dark Souls, and this information is coming from French website GameKult’s interview with a Yui Tanimura, the Japanese game director of Dark Souls II. I am merely an information conduit. A nexus from them to you, with news that the complaints of the horrible, nasty port job of the previous game was noticed and taken into account. Dark Souls II is being developed as a PC game. Hooray!"

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Jagged Alliance: Flashback @ KickStarter
• Homeworld space RTS rights bought by Gearbox for $1.35m @ Hexus
• That Much-Delayed 2k Marin Shooter Is Not An EXCOM @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Post-Modern – ‘Call Of Duty: Ghosts’ Busted @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Totally Teutoburgic: Tons Of Rome II In-Game Footage @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Injustice: Gods Among Us @ The Inquirer
• Gears of War: Judgement Xbox 360 @ Tweaktown

NVIDIA's plans for Tegra and Tesla

Subject: General Tech | April 24, 2013 - 01:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Steve Scott, nvidia, HPC, tesla, logan, tegra

The Register had a chance to sit down with Steve Scott, once CTO of Cray and now CTO of NVIDIA's Tesla projects to discuss the future of their add-in cards as well as that of x86 in the server room.  They discussed Tegra and why it is not receiving the same amount of attention at NVIDIA as Tegra is, as well as some of the fundamental differences in the chips both currently and going forward.  NVIDIA plans to unite GPU and CPU onto both families of chips, likely with a custom interface as opposed to placing them on the same die, though both will continue to be designed for very different functions.  A lot of the article focuses on Tegra, its memory bandwidth and most importantly its networking capabilities as it seems NVIDIA is focused on the server room and providing hundreds or thousands of interconnected Tegra processors to compete directly with x86 offerings.  Read on for the full interview.

"Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia has been perfectly honest about the fact that the graphics chip maker didn't intend to get into the supercomputing business. Rather, it was founded by a bunch of gamers who wanted better graphics cards to play 3D games. Fast forward two decades, though, and the Nvidia Tesla GPU coprocessor and the CUDA programming environment have taken the supercomputer world by storm."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• AMD pins future growth to embedded marketplace @ The Register
• AMD announces new embedded G-series SoC @ DigiTimes
• TSMC captures almost 50 percent of foundry market thanks to 28nm demand @ The Inquirer
• $45 BeagleBone Black Keeps Eyes on the Pi's @ Linux.com
• BlackBerry OS 10.1 leaks its secret goo over all the web @ The Register
• Samsung MV900F Wi-Fi 16.3MP Digital Camera Review @ ModSynergy
• i’m Watch: A Smartwatch Review @ TechwareLabs

Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition 15.6" Core i7 1080p Laptop with 2GB HD 7730M

Subject: General Tech | April 24, 2013 - 01:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

For $790 which is $450 off of the retail price you can get your hands on an impressive gaming laptop from Dell, the Inspiron 15R Special Edition.  This 15.6" 1080p laptop is powered by an Intel i7-3632QM @ 2.2GHz, 8GB DDR3-1600, a 32GB SSD cache drive partnered with a 1TB HDD and a 2GB Radeon 7730M.  With Waves MaxxAudio 4 and Skullcandy speakers, HDMI out and 4 USB 3.0 ports this machine will also function as a desktop replacement in case you need to make some sort of justification for spending your money on a gaming laptop.

To get our recommended Inspiron 15R Special Edition configuration, follow these steps:

1. Start here at Dell Home direct store
2. Configure as per needs (optional), click Review & Add to cart button at the top
3. Add to cart
4. Apply coupon code: BXV1FC3ZFJ95DG in shopping cart and proceed to final checkout/payment

Sound Blaster, eh? That name sort of rings a bell.

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2013 - 06:02 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: audio, Creative, Sound Blaster ZxR

Ah the good old days of soundcards and assigning specific IRQs to specific PCI slots; don't you miss them?  Onboard chipsets have come a long way from their roots, with full Dolby 5.1 sound and a minimal impact on CPU load available on almost every motherboard but there is still a market for soundcards, albeit a much reduced market.  Creative have not been releasing a lot of new Sound Blaster models recently, at least until very recently.  The Creative Sound Blaster ZxR is more than just a single card, you have a PCIe card as well as an optional daughterboard to provide optical out and a line in as well as a Audio Control Module which contains an array mic, volume control and both 3.5mm to 1/4″ inputs for a headset with microphone.  Is it $250 better than onboard audio?  Custom PC Review has the answers here.

"That being said, today we’ll be reviewing the Creative Sound Blaster ZxR, which is the flagship soundcard in the Sound Blaster Z series of soundcards. Now a couple months ago, we reviewed the Sound Blaster Z, which is a fantastic soundcard that offered a good balance between sound quality and price, but it’s merely the entry level soundcard in the Sound Blaster Z..."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner

• RHA MA450i Earphones Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• AZiO Levetron GH808 USB Gaming Headset @ Benchmark Reviews
• TteSports Shock & Shock One PC Gaming Headset @ eTeknix
• Steelseries Siberia V2 PC Headset Frost Blue Special Edition @ eTeknix
• AIAIAI TMA-1 Studio Headphones With Mic Review @ NikKTech
• Oblanc NC2-3 U.F.O Bluetooth Stereo Headphones Review @ NikKTech
• Plantronics Voyager Legend UC Bluetooth Headset Review @ NikKTech
• RHA SA950i On-ear Headphones @ techPowerUp
• Corsair Obsidian 900D review: taking it to the next level @ Hardware.info
• AZiO Levetron GH808 USB Gaming Headset @ Tweaktown
• How To Set Your Bluetooth Headset As The Default Audio Device @ TechARP
• HMDX Jam Portable Bluetooth Speaker @ Funky Kit

Where have all the PC sales gone? Samsung's got them.

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2013 - 04:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: slight exaggeration, Samsung, dram market

We have been reporting on the declining global sales of the traditional desktop PC; with one of the major culprits being the increase in sale of smart or super phones which can do just about everything some mainstream consumers want.  Samsung's Galaxy series certainly contribute to this decline and also the decline of Apple's iPhone sales as according to DigiTimes almost 1 of every 3 phones sold globally was made by Samsung.  Apple claims a mere 17.3% of the global market for those who are curious.  The increase is not only from stealing customers from providers such as Lenovo, the market its self is growing and will likely continue to do so as new phones and promotions are launched throughout the year.

"In the first quarter of 2013, smartphone shipments increased steadily worldwide, with total shipments reaching 216.4 million units for a 9.4% on growth. Since the beginning of 2012, smartphone shipment figures have been up every quarter despite seasonality, indication the electronic device is here to stay, according to DRAMeXchange."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Java still vulnerable despite recent patches @ The Register
• Amino acids allow bacterial 'nanowires' to conduct electricity @ NanoTechWeb
• SanDisk '2-3 years' away from mass-producing 3D flash chips @ The Register
• Samsung Galaxy S4 first impressions @ Hardware.info
• Weekly Giveaway - LG 42-inch CINEMA 3D 1080p LED HDTV thanks to Deals2Buy @ Tweaktown
• Win a Thecus N2200EVO NAS Server @ eTeknix

Dell PowerEdge T110 II Intel Xeon E3 Quad-core Server @ $603

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2013 - 01:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

The Dell PowerEdge T110 is the first server deal we have seen from LogicBUY, currently selling for $338 off the regular price.  Inside you will find a quad-core Xeon E3-1220v2 @ 3.1GHz Quad-core Server with 4GB DDR3 and a 500GB HDD.  This will not be a gaming machine, but it could certainly host games or a file share or many other tasks more suited to a Xeon processor than a desktop processor.  For the price, you get a lot of possibilities.

To get our recommended PowerEdge T110 II deal, follow these steps:

1. Start here at Dell.com direct store
2. Customize as per needs (optional), click Continue button in the right
3. Add to cart
4. Proceed to final checkout/payment

If Kickstarter is for your oculars: what about your legs?

Subject: General Tech, Systems | April 22, 2013 - 06:16 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Kickstarter, oculus rift, Virtuix Omni

Even if you no-one watches you game, this device would probably be difficult to store in a closet.

Team Fortress 2 is a fun game and one of the first with support for the Oculus Rift VR headset. But why stop there? The Omni is an omnidirectional treadmill which allows users to move within the device and have that motion translate into computer input. This means that running, strafing, and apparently jumping in your containing vessel will control a videogame character.

How the heck they expect to Scout double-jump? Beats me.

The company is currently in preparation for a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign. Under the assumption that no trickery is going on, this could be a leap forward for VR.

Perhaps a small-business arcade might like to get a few gaming PCs set up? To me, it sounds like an interesting novelty previously reserved for theme parks and traveling mall demonstrations. If it works as planned, it might even be a better technology.

Still no word on price or predicted availability, but I expect that will come soon.

With just $70, you can save an underprivileged Retina.

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Displays | April 22, 2013 - 05:34 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: LG, ips, hack

Operators are standing by...

Of course Apple is not a primary manufacturer of LCD panels; like everyone else, they buy their panels from someone like LG. Due to how much Apple loves IPS technology, which I cannot blame them for, they in fact do purchase their displays from LG.

If you have an itchy soldering iron, so can you.

According to EmertHacks, the LG part number for retina iPad screens is LP097QX1-SPA1. The blog post states that he could find the panel for as cheap as $55, but my own digging game up with costs between $60 and $200 plus shipping. These panels are mostly destined to iPad repair shops, but you can give it a better home.

With under $20 of other parts, this panel could be attached to a DisplayPort connection. All said and done, you could have a 2048x1536 9.7" display with an 800:1 static contrast ratio for about $70.