techphules

Duke Nukem Forever Curse Lives On

2011-03-24T07:38:00.005-05:00

Here we go again. The Duke Nukem Forever team has fallen victim to the curse of Duke Nukem Forever. Take-Two would like to let you know that Duke has been delayed until June 14th. While they do poke fun at the issue with this video, it still doesn't make any of us Duke fans any happier. We've seen this all before guys...

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Hi-Rez Studios excites older gamers with Tribes: Ascend announcement

2011-03-22T08:42:00.003-05:00

Most older PC gamers worth their salt will have some fond memories of Tribes multiplayer sessions back in the day. Hi-Rez Studios has now released their first teaser for their upcoming entry in the series:

Here's what Hi-Rez's Todd Harris had to say about it: “Before Halo, before Modern Warfare, and before Battlefield, there was Tribes. Tribes fans appreciate the game’s essence–athletic FPS combat combined with teamwork and strategy. As we began development of Tribes Universe, we focused first on capturing that essence–refining and modernizing iconic elements like jetpacks, skiing, and vehicles. We’ve had tremendous fun play-testing and realized the potential of a multiplayer focused title ahead of Tribes Universe. The community has been waiting for a multi-player shooter that is the modern successor to T2. Tribes: Ascend is that game.”

It's actually kind of funny when you compare the console giant Halo series to Tribes.
One of Halo 1's big features was vehicle multiplayer combat, oh wait, Tribes had that years previous. Halo: Reach "brought to the table" jet-pack mayhem, what, Tribes had already mastered that too? Aw Shazbot!

No release date has been announced yet, other than simply "2011".

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Steam Guard now available to all users

2011-03-22T08:12:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago during GDC 2011, Steam heart-throb Gabe Newell announced an upcoming Steam security feature called Steam Guard, an additional level of account security to protect your virtual game safe. To use the service, you just need to update to the newest Steam client and be sure that your primary email address is verified. Then, any time you log in from a new computer, Steam will email you a code that you'll need to enter to register that computer on your account. If you get an email from a computer that you didn't lot in from, then you'll know someone else is trying to access your account. Easy peasy.

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Logitech finally retires their Z-5500 speakers, replaces with Z906

2011-03-16T18:43:00.005-05:00

Logitech released their Z-5500 speaker system way back in 2004. They've been riding the wave of having arguable the best set of computer speakers available ever since then without ever refreshing the model throughout all those years. Well that impressive run has finally come to an end. Logitech has now announced their new speaker system, the Z906. Like the Z-5500, the Z906 will be THX-certified and have a surround-sound DAC capable of decoding Dolby Digital & DTS streams over either digital optical or coaxial cables. Unfortunately it doesn't add features such as HDMI pass-through with the ability to decode the Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio tracks from sources like Blu-ray players.

The amp will fire out a total of 500 watts RMS, 67w to each satellite and 165w to the ported subwoofer. Also similar to the Z-5500, the Z906 will have an infrared remote and control pod to handle volume control, levels, inputs, etc. Interestingly this new pod doesn't have an LCD screen like previous Logitech speaker systems have had.

The Z906 ships later this month for $399.99.

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Crytek Showcases CryEngine 3's Next-Gen Capabilities

2011-03-09T22:24:00.004-06:00

Not to be outdone by Epic's Unreal Engine 3 demo this year at GDC 2011, Crytek showed off some gorgeous footage of what CryEngine3 can do. Their video is geared a little more towards developers than the UE3 one was, but that doesn't make the effects they show off any less impressive. Enjoy more amazing graphics that current-gen consoles could only dream of being able to give you.

Epic shows off new Unreal Engine 3 upgrades in GDC tech demo

2011-03-09T18:47:00.003-06:00

Last week at GDC 2011, Epic brought some heat with their new tech demo of the improvements that they've made to the very popular Unreal Engine 3. Oddly they didn't introduce it as UE4, as the visual effects in this trailer are leaps and bounds better than what we're used to seeing from the engine. Although maybe that's because most of the UE3 games are targeted for consoles, and the PC versions are held back from looking this good because of porting. Either way check it out, previously there was just a leaked camcorder quality video of the footage, but now IGN has posted the direct HD video for our enjoyment:

Google pushes out Chrome 10

2011-03-08T19:38:00.002-06:00

It was barely a month ago that Google released Chrome version 9 with various improvements and performance upgrades, but they're back again to unleash version 10 fresh out of beta today. What gifts have they given in this iteration? Well, more speed of course, including a 66 percent improvement in JavaScript performance on the V8 benchmark suite. There's also a new settings interface that is loaded in it's own tab in the browser instead of in a window like you're used to.

You can also now synchronize your saved web passwords with installs of Chrome across different computers. Google has also extended it's sandboxing tech to the integrated
Flash player in Chrome to better guard against malicious websites.

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Sony shows off the PSP2

2011-01-27T09:21:00.005-06:00

Ok, so technically they referred to it as the "NGP", or Next-generation Playstation Portable (wouldn't that be NGPP?). But name aside, this little machine looks like a dream when going over the specs sheet:

Take a nice close look at that. This baby is packing a quad-core Cortex A9 CPU AND a quad-core PowerVR GPU! There's never been a handheld packing this much pure horsepower, and you have to wonder just what kind of battery life they will be able to squeeze out of it. Sony did announce that games will be on "new media", so ditching UMD like on the PSPGo will help some with battery life.

The system will have the a 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960x544 resolution, 4-way directional buttons, the standard Playstation 4 action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), 2 shoulder buttons, dual analog sticks (not "nubs" like on the original PSP), multi-touch pad on the back of the system, front and rear cameras, GPS, Wifi, 3G, bluetooth, gyroscope, accelerometer and compass! There's really nothing that you could wish they would have in there that isn't currently on the spec sheet.

Sony showed demos of future games including Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet and Uncharted. They also showed off a cutscene from MGS4 rendered in real-time on the PSP2. The code was pulled directly from the PS3 version (no optimizations done at all) and ran at 20fps.

No pricing was discussed, but Sony said it will be available this holiday season. This is very exciting, and we at Techphules cannot wait to hopefully get some hands-on time with this device at E3 this June.

Pre-orders are a go on Razer Onza 'professional' controllers

2011-01-22T18:21:00.003-06:00

Razer has been showing off their Onza Xbox 360 controllers for a while now at various shows. But they've been hush on giving out release date or pricing information. Until now that is. They've now opened up pre-orders for the controller, and they've also unveiled that there will actually be two versions of the controller, the standard Onza, and an Onza Tournament Edition ($39.99 and $49.99 respectively). Both controllers offer an improved d-pad, two programmable shoulder buttons and "Hyperesponse" face buttons. White the T.E. adds adjustable resistance analog sticks, backlit buttons, a rubberized finish and a braided cable (both controllers are wired).

At E3 2010 the Techphules editors had the opportunity to play some rounds of Modern Warfare 2 on what is now being called the Onza Tournament Edition. We came away very impressed with the controller, and I have to say the adjustable resistance on the analog sticks had to be my favorite feature.

From the looks of the pre-order page it looks like estimated shipping dates are around the end of February for the Onza, but the T.E. is already sold out with no dates announced as of yet.

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Nintendo officially lets loose launch details on the 3DS

2011-01-19T12:00:00.003-06:00

Nintendo's next entry in their monster monopoly of gaming handheld consoles finally has official US and Europe release dates. At a press event today, Nintendo announced that the 3DS will be for sale in the US on March 27th and a tad bit earlier in Europe on March 25th (they had previously announced that the system will launch on February 26th in Japan). Official MSRP will be $249.99 in the US and what looks to be £229.99 in Europe.

Nintendo promised 30+ games to be released during the "launch window" for US gamers. Although they were unclear what titles would be available on the actual launch date. Many games were discussed at the event, such as Resident Evil: Revelations, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, Pilotwings Resort, a new Paper Mario game, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Rabbids 3D, and of course, a Madden game.

A new 3DS website also launched today.

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Sprint adding extra $10/month charge to all "smartphones"

2011-01-18T15:48:00.006-06:00

When Sprint launched the HTC Evo last year they accompanied the announcement, with the debut of their mandatory extra $10/month "Premium Data" fee. Since then the Samsung Epic and HTC Shift have all joined the 'premium data' club. It was named by many to be a "4G tax" since all the devices that the fee applied to where 4G capable. Although it didn't matter if your area wasn't covered by Sprint's 4G umbrella, you still were required to pay, as Sprint swore up and down that it wasn't a "4G fee", it was simply for phones that use more data than normal.

Most people didn't care too much, if they wanted the biggest and best that Sprint had to offer, then it was just what had to be done. And even with the extra fee their monthly bills were still likely to be cheaper than with competitors like Verizon or AT&T.

Today Sprint announced that starting on January 30th, all "smartphones" (defined as "devices with robust operating systems bringing the full function of mobile applications and programs to life including Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, and the Instinct family of devices"), will be required to pay the extra data fee. Luckily they are allowing all current subscribers to be 'grandfathered' in, and they will not be required to pay the charge until the next time they upgrade their plan / phone.

Even with this new plan, most subscribers will still find that Sprint is cheaper than most competitors when comparing feature-to-feature. Hopefully getting this extra cash-flow coming in will allow them to continue expanding their current 4G network out to compete with the huge amount of money that Verizon is currently throwing at their LTE network roll-out.

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Games for Windows Live stumbles to tackle Steam

2010-10-25T23:39:00.003-05:00

Microsoft has just launched it's new PC gaming digital distribution site. Apparently a (late) step to reclaim some lost distribution share to Steam.

Time for PC users to dust off those gamer tags? Or just stick with the tried and true Steam service? Microsoft is trying to incentivize users to try the service with 50% off Viva Pinata and Shadowrun... SHADOWRUN? You mean the game that failed to push gamers into upgrading to Windows Vista because it required DirectX 10, but was later hacked and released for download and ran just fine on DX9? We gamers remember this stuff Microsoft. I personally have no interest in 50% off a 3 year old FPS that no one else is playing.

Several other deals are available, if you're curious go check it out:

HERE

Tribes is back!??!?

2010-10-25T23:28:00.002-05:00

The developer of Global Agenda, HiRez Studios, have announced they're picking up the Tribes franchise for an MMO set in the Tribes universe.

What does this mean? Hopefully another innovative and fun FPS that can be poached by Halo in 3-4 years (we're talking about your jetpacks Halo Reach).

More news as it comes...

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Fix for Starcraft 2 Alt-Tabbing / Menus Chugging & Overheating Hardware

2010-08-03T16:03:00.004-05:00

Anyone else frustrated that it takes 1+ minutes on your Uber-fast rig, just to Alt-Tab back into Starcraft II? I stumbled upon a fix posted on GameInformer that helped me. Apparently there is a bug in the interface right now which doesn't limit the framerate of menus (ala-the pause menu or the single player ship interface) which causes it to grind resources.

Here's the fix:
Exit out of Starcraft II (or the changes get reverted).
Add the following lines to your "Documents\StarCraft II\variables.txt" file (I added mine at the bottom of the text document, as these variables aren't in there by default):

frameratecapglue=30
frameratecap=60

For windows 7 the folder (for you n00bs) is:
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAMEHERE\Documents\StarCraft II\Variables.txt

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New Mortal Kombat brings back the pain and gore

2010-06-22T18:37:00.007-05:00

Everybody has heard of Mortal Kombat. Period. My girlfriend knows what Mortal Kombat is, my parents know what Mortal Kombat is, heck my grandma knows what Mortal Kombat is. Of course a lot of these "non-gamers" that know of the series only know about it because of the all the controversy it caused in the mid-90's when the games owned both the arcades and the home consoles. Did I buy (ok, I was 12 when it came out, I didn't really "buy" much, so it was bought for me) a Sega Genesis just so that I could play MK with blood and real fatalities (ABACABB FTW), even though I already owned the graphically superior SNES version? Of course I did. I tried my damnedest to get the sweat from the SNES version to just be colored red, in hopes that that would satisfy me. Hours and hours of Game Genie (oh how I loved thee) "hacking", and the closest I got was purple "blood". Not the goal I had, but to a 12 year old that was still pretty flippin' cool.

Anyways, as most original MK fans would agree, the series hasn't really been what it used to be. Ever since the series followed the trend of other fighting games and went 3D, it just hasn't been the same. Well, the upcoming MK iteration is looking to fix that. Just like the super popular Street Fighter 4, the next MK is using the 3D fighters on a 2D fighting plane design. And it looks fantastic!

The team at NetherRealm Studios are going back to the violent roots of the series and bringing back many of the elements that made it so popular in the first place. Having literally defined the mature game category, MK is coming back with the fastest and most brutal installment to date. The team has obviously put a lot of focus on the speed of the gameplay and combo system, in hopes of making the fighting a little deeper than previous MK games. They've also brought back some of the classic background that you'll remember fighting in, transformed with a fresh paint of 3D of course. But the most stunning new feature is in the character models. See each character is actually constructed with 2 models; the exterior model that you normally see, and an inner "skeletal" model. The inner-model gives every character their own visible bone structure and internal organs. This allows the game to be more brutal than ever imagined before. Instead of just being a bloody mess, Fatalities will show off broken bones and even show organ structures, that is when the Fatality doesn't have said organs leaving the body...

There is also new special X-Ray combos. These moves aren't done at the end of a round like Fatalities, they're done during a round. They will zoom into the action and show skulls cracking, bones breaking, etc. All of this is a little easier to be seen than to try and describe, so check out the trailer:

Product Features:

Mature Presentation
- Fatalities make a triumphant return to their original violent form as Mortal Kombat gives its fans what they've been demanding. Graphic details, never before possible are presented with the most sophisticated graphics engine in MK history.
All New Game Play
- By returning to its classic 2D fighting plane, mature presentation, and up to 4 player tag-team kombat; Mortal Kombat introduces an all new fighting mechanic that's both accessible and provides the depth that fighting game players look for.
Deep Story Mode
- Mortal Kombat offers the deepest story mode of any fighting game. Players are taken back to the original Mortal Kombat tournament where they try to alter the events of the past in an attempt to save the future.
Graphics & Technology
- Characters, enviroments and fatalities have never been presented with as much gory detail as in this next generation Mortal Kombat. From internal organs to the most "realistic" blood effects, MK has never looked this good.
New Game Modes
- In addition to an enhanced online feature set, Mortal Kombat introduces Co-op arcade mode and many additional modes to be announced in the upcoming months.

Mortal Kombat is set to be released for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2011.

Super Scribblenauts brings adjectives to the table

2010-06-21T19:02:00.006-05:00

The first Scribblenauts game was like none other, it won many awards for it's completely innovative game play and was a blast to play. While many people enjoyed it's fun, techphules editor Rob was one of the people who never experienced its magic. When we saw the booth for Super Scribblenauts on the show floor at E3 2010 and he informed me of this I told him he had to try it out. After learning the ropes of the game he jumped in to the first puzzle demo'd at the show. His task was to get to the front of a line of people waiting to score a new video game (which of course was a giant Scribblenauts game cartridge). He tried a few things such as guns and Smoke bombs (ProTip: Smoke bombs in Super Scribblenauts oddly explode, injuring the people around it), after these didn't work he spawned a zombie to scare the bystanders...nothing...no problem, maybe size matters, next he brought in a T-Rex...still nothing. Then while trying to move the items around he accidentally dropped the zombie on the T-Rex...the result? Hilarity. Seeing the zombie ride around on the T-Rex like it was a horse made us and the game dev watching crack up laughing. In case you also have never seen a zombie ride a T-Rex, then here ya go:

Anyways, Super Scribblenauts expands on the original title by adding an adjectives system and upgraded controls to create a fresh game play experience. Players now have the ability to write any object that comes to mind and modify it in any way they desire, using adjectives to reach the goal in each level. Adjectives can change the color, size, elements, behaviors and many other aspects of the object they are describing. Multiple adjectives can be combined together to produce incredibly creative objects, such as gentlemanly, flaming, flying zombies and purple, obese, winged elephants.

New features in the game are:

Brand New Levels
- 120 new levels that include such tasks as finding a cure for the plague, populating and office or identifying animals with shells.
All-New Adjectives System
- Create a shy, green, polar bear or an angry zombie pear. Thousands of adjectives reflect real life behaviors, personalities and characteristics when applied to objects.
Multi-Layered Hints
- New hint system allows you to purchase more explicit hints using Ollar's.
Universal Feedback System
- Visualize progress throughout levels. Relevant objects summoned get a thumbs up, while irrelevant objects get a thumbs down.
Updated Dictionary
- Summon hundreds of all-new, customizable objects.
New Control Schemes
- Control Maxwell with the D-pad or with updated and more precise Stylus controls. Weight, buoyancy and friction have all been reworked to make objects interact better to the player's input.
New Level Editor
- Create both puzzle and action levels and/or build your very own custom playground.
Innovative UI
- New UI gives players more control over gameplay, with more detail on how to navigate through new levels in the game.

Super Scribblenauts comes to the Nintendo DS in October 2010.

New Carnival Games coming this fall

2010-06-21T17:24:00.004-05:00

2K and Cat Daddy Games announced at E3 last week that they're bringing a new edition of the popular "Carnival Games" to the Wii and and Nintendo DS. Some of the additions are:

Over 30 new games and attractions:
- Pitch-A-Plate
- Bottle Stand-Up
- Fish Bowl Bounce
- Tic Tac Toss
- Gold Rush Alley Ball
- Bumper Cars
All-new MotionPlus capabilities
- Allows for increased accuracy, enhanced game play and more precision than before.
300 new prizes and wacky wearables:
- Moon Rocks
- Eye-bots
- Decoder Rings
- Walrus Mask
- Dragonfly Wings
- Rabbit Ears
New 4-player Multiplayer
- Allows for cooperative play or head-to-head competition in every game.

New Carnival Games is set for a September 2010 release for both the Wii ($39.99) and Nintendo DS ($29.99).

Rage On!

2010-06-20T17:42:00.002-05:00

Techphules got its first look at Id Software's latest game: Rage. My immediate impressions are that the game looks beautiful and runs super smooth for being a console shooter. Check out the videos for exclusive behind the scenes footage taken behind closed doors at the Bethesda booth.

That's It

2010-06-17T19:08:00.002-05:00

Well, E3 is officially over. We had a crazy last day today, much busier than anticipated. But we fit in absolutely everything that we planned to. It took a good amount of time managing and suave talking, but thanks to our Media badges we were able to get all the demonstrations we looked to secure, and even some that we didn't have planned. Stay tuned over the coming days as we parse through all of our information, personal pics/video and the provided media assets given to us.

We'd like to thank the ESA for allowing us to cover E3, and to all the companies that gave us their time in demonstrating their upcoming projects. Well, not quite all of them, there's a select few that weren't nearly as helpful, you know who you are...

Techphules @ E3!!!

2010-06-15T10:51:00.005-05:00

It's Offical. E3 has begun. We're starting things off with the Nintendo Press conference at 9am EST. More to come...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer amazes

2010-06-04T11:54:00.004-05:00

Eidos paired up with the CGI wizards at Square-Enix to do the CGI work for their upcoming entry in the Deus Ex series. They've finally released their first trailer for the game, and proven that they are worth every penny.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is coming to the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2011.

Medal of Honor "Leave a Message" trailer

2010-05-06T13:22:00.005-05:00

EA looks to be bringing back the Medal of Honor series in a big way. And with all the recent drama with the Modern Warfare series it looks like a great time to re-introduce a solid war-series. Instead of most FPS war game trailers, this one chooses to focus more on the human side of war instead of throwing as many explosions and fast-cuts as possible at your. Consider us impressed EA, keep it up.

Medal of Honor will ship October 12, 2010.

Blizzard finally sets a Starcraft 2 release date

2010-05-03T18:57:00.003-05:00

Blizzard is known for taking their sweet time on each and every product they put out. We both love them and hate them for the extensive quality control time they put in their games. Up till now Blizzard has been reluctant to give any insight to when the first installment of Starcraft 2 would be released other than a vague "Summer" reply. Today the Terran-based "Wings of Liberty" was given a July 27th release date for "stores throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau."

Oddly Blizzard also said the game will not be available digitally directly from them through Battle.Net 2.0 until "shortly after retail launch".

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Nintendo goes to the dark side on May 9th

2010-05-03T11:29:00.002-05:00

Nintendo's Wii has been available in black overseas for awhile now. Americans have had the option of importing, but that was an expensive option up till now. Nintendo has finally announced that they will be launching the black Wii on May 9th in North America for $199. This price is also reflecting a sort of price drop for both colors of Wii systems, as this price not only includes the standard Wii Sports game, but also Wii Sports Resort and a system color-matching MotionPlus adapter and nunchuck.

Call of Duty : Black Ops Premier Trailer

2010-05-01T10:45:00.005-05:00

So the drama at Infinity Ward may still be in high gear, but that will only have an effect on the next, next, Call of Duty. This years installment is Treyarch's turn, and now we've finally got the debut trailer for their upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops. From the looks of it, we're still in modern times, and Black Ops is a cool name that would work for future installments similar to how Modern Warfare worked for the series too. At least a name is one less thing Treyarch would have to worry about in 2012, CoD: BO2 writes itself.

From the trailer it looks like the release date is set for either September 11th or November 9th, 2010.