Razer Announces Gaming Laptop with Mini Touchscreen

Looks like Razer isn't too worried with everyone claiming the PC gaming market is finished. They've just announced a powerful gaming laptop that will certainly make everyone turn their heads.

As any gaming laptop should be, its hardware specs are... up to date:

• 2.8GHz Intel® CoreTM i7 2640M Processor
• 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory
• 17.3" LED Backlit Display (1920x1080)
• NVIDIA GeForce® GT 555M with NVIDIA® OptimusTM Technology (2GB Dedicated GDDR5 Video Memory)
• Built-in HD Webcam
• Integrated 60Wh Battery
• 320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
• Wireless Network 802.11 b/g/n Compatible
• 16.81" (Width) x 10.9" (Depth) x 0.88" (Height); 6.97lbs (Weight)
• It will ship in the fourth quarter of 2011 for $2,799.99.

And altough it's $2,800 price tag certainly is steep, one should be satisfied to know that Razer hired the team behind OQO and several engineers coming from Apple, Dell, and other manufacturers. So... it looks like they certainly have the capability to do something "excellent".

But more than its hardware specs, the one thing that makes this Razer Laptop stand from the rest is the mini multitouch screen and 10 dynamic buttons it has next to its keyboard.

This touchscreen and buttons can play a major role in the success of this product, and will hopefully help games add a new layer of immersion in the way we control it.
(And besides games, we can envision a lot of possibilites in photo and video editing programs, 3D modelling software, and... lots others)

I just hope Razer will soon launch a "mini touchscreen+buttons" assembly than we can use in our own PCs, and that will help bring this system to a larger number of gamers - while at the same time making it more appealing for developers to support it.

Zeemote Portable Bluetooth Gaming Controller

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get to know a strange small portable gaming device called Zeemote. It's a portable bluetooth gaming controller which makes playing on a touchscreen portable device a lot more appealing.

After all, a lot of gamers still can't grasp how one could ever play platform games on a touchscreen, and now  thanks to this zeemote - they won't have to.
The zeemote name similarity to the wiimote doesn't go as far as giving it motion sense capabilities. But, even so, you get a analog thumb controller and four buttons - enough to handle most gaming needs. (Though I could envision you using two of them for 3D FPS games! :)

Even more interesting, this Zeemote JS1 Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Controller is available for less than 7£ - which is less that 8€ - a real bargain!
So, if you want to maximize your gaming prowess on your Android tablet or smartphone, don't hesitate to get one of these zeemote bluetooth controllers.

Play Asteroids on Any Web Page

Want to try browsing the web in a completely different way?
Wish you could blast you favorite website's ads into smithereens?

Well, now you can, thanks to this Asteroids booknarklet. Although you can try it out on its page, it's great advantage is that you can actually play the classic Asteroids game in any website you choose; and I don't mean playing "over" the web site background image... No; you'll be playing a full interactive asteroids game with any web page of your choosing.

You can shoot down paragraphs, ads, and whatever else you wish to desintegrate. It really is a fun way to "destroy" your most hated web site! ;)

Androideroids - Mutiplayer Asteroids

Multidevice are finally strting to show up and becoming increasingly popular. This Androideroids mixes a multiplayer asteroid gaming with a central computer showing what's happening around the field.

It allows up to 8 players, each with his own Android device. Check it on video:


Androideroids (rough cut) from Grant Skinner on Vimeo.

Gaming at 300 APM

If you thing you're pretty good at games like Starcraft and Warcraft, tell me how many actions can you perform per minute?

If you'd say you can performa 1 per second, I'd already be impressed... But... after seeing this video, I'm not to keen on playing my pre-ordered Starcraft 2 with anyone but my trusted (and slow) old friends.

Because, as you'll be able to see, pro players can go beyond 300 APM! That's over 5 actions per second... non-stops! It's completely... unblievable! o_O

These guys will soon need a high-speed camera to be able to capture how fast they're playing.

OnLive Gaming on the iPad

Remember OnLive, the online gaming service that will revolutionize the way we play? It's finally available and we get a new demo showing how the device we play with will become completely irrelevant. You'll be able to play whatever you want wherever you want!

See how simple it is to play "anything" on an iPad. :)



Now, all they need is to create an infrastructure that can guarantee lag-free gaming for players worldwide.

[via TouchArcade]

Immersive Projection Gaming [iPhone]

An iPhone and a Pico-projector, that's all it takes for you to create your own "holodeck"... sort of.

Thanks to a picoprojector that keeps the image in focus no matter what and the digital compass and accelerometers on the iPhone, you can turn any room into a virtual environment where any game can come to life.

... now, if we add a couple more projectors for 360º coverage... hummm... Star Trek Holodeck, we're getting there... :)

Crysis EA Annoyances - Error 5024

I've just recently bought Crysis Maximum Edition and Half-Life 2 The Orange Box.

Though I was curious about Crysis, only now -thanks to my new PC - could I finally hope to enjoy Crysis as "it's meant to be played."

As for Half-Life, I'va always been a fan... but when it was launched I didn't buy it immediately because I didn't agree with its anti-piracy security measures (as happens with most games.)
However, for the price I now found it, it was hard to resist... even if I never happen to install it and use some cracked version instead...

Which leads me to the reason why I'm writing this.

I installed Crysis a few days ago, bus wasn't able to actually play it until yesterday.

Facing my GTX275 SLI driven 26" new LCD screen, I anxiously double clicked the Crysis game icon to launch it... and what do I get in response? This:

A required security module cannot be activated.
This program cannot be executed (5024)

What the heck? Maybe it was the update patches I had recently installed... Some Googling around didn't help much... So... Uninstall and reinstall without the patches to try it out again - I had seen it launch before... so...

Installing...  again...

Even without any patch or update, the game failed to start with that dreaded 5024 error!
What could it be???

At this moment I was seriously considering just forgetting about it and grab a cracked copy from the internet; once again the stupid security measures these gaming companies implement show what they really do: annoy the legitimate customers, while "pirates" with cracked copies just simply enjoy their games!
(Not to mention the fact that I have to insert the original DVD in drive everytime I want to play?? Come on!)

But then, just I was about to open a new tab and just grab a pirated copy of the game I legally bought so that I could finally play it - a post from another user caught my attention. He said he got this error because he was running ProcessExplorer.

Hold on... I also run that program!

ProcessExplorer is a task manager replacement which is now officially Microsoft. And as I find the regular task manager somewhat lacking, I've been using this improved version for years!

Now... WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO TERMINATE PROCESS EXPLORER IN ORDER TO PLAY CRYSIS???

It's inadmissable! I've paid for the game; and now I can't even run it while I keep my "always running" programs in the background?
Isn't it enough that I have to endure "punkbuster" services running in my PC all the time, even when I'm not playing games?
Isn't it enough that I have to keep the original DVDs in the drive while playing even though I have no option not to install gigabytes of data to my computer?
Not to mention the fact that, would it be that hard to show a more human-friendly message like: "Process Explorer was found running, please exit the program to run Crysis" instead???


All this nonsense has made me reconsider if these games are really worth this trouble, even if at a reduced price... or even if they were for free!


After decades of trying, it's clear that *nothing* they do will ever stop piracy/cracks/etc. So, why don't you please just focus on making great games, putting it on sale at decent prices, and stop treating all your legitimate customers like criminals!

Or, will I forever have to wait a couple of years to buy a game at a nice price - and then be forced to download a pirated copy just so I can actually play the game without placing a disc in the drive or having to terminate some programs I might be running?

OnLive Streaming Games

Will this be the end of hyper-powerful 3D gaming cards as we know it?

If OnLive delivers, it may very will be a turning point in the gaming industry. They claim to be able to stream video games into your house, but in a slightly different way than you'd might expect.

Instead of transferring the game so it can be played in your computer, they'll be streaming realtime interactive video.

Meaning, no matter how old your computer is, you'll be able to play the latest and greatest 3D games with all the high quality details turned on. Playing Crysys on your Eee PC won't be a problem anymore.

All you need is a 1.5Mbps pipe for receiving the video (or up to 4-5Mbps for high-def video.)
A more critical aspect of all this is the low latency connection required. As everything you do must be sent to the remote server, processed, rendered, and then streamed back to your computer - this round trip must be done as quickly as possible.

OnLive say they've been able to reduce all that to just just a single millisecond! (Not including the internet lag, of course.)


I've been telling my friends that this day would come - I just didn't exepect it would arrive this soon.

Surface Demo Game - Firefly

Slowly but steadily, we begin to see how the new multitouch interfaces will forever change the way we interact with computers.

Though these applications are certainly just "entertaining", they are definitely the first step into bringing these technologies to our homes.

Check the sample video from sarcasticgamer:



After that, the sky is the limit.

Double-Layer DVDs affect Wii

The latest game for Nintendo Wii: Super Smash Brothers Brawl is the first to use double-layer discs, and it's causing a lot of problems. Multiple reports of people experiencing lots of disc read errors have been complaining about it.

Now Nintendo has stated that these problems are probably due to dust build up on the DVD drive lens, as the double layer DVD requires more "sensitivity" to be read.
Drives that can read single-layer DVDs may fail when trying to read these DL DVDs.

The introduction of Dual-Layer DVDs seems to have been dictated by "copy-protection" reasons alone - as it's doubtful that such a game would require more than the disc space provided by single layer DVDs.
If that's so, lots of people will have problems when they buy this game, problems that would be avoided if they used a single layer DVD.
"Pirates" on the other hand, will continue to copy these games as usual, with reports of hackers already stripping the dummy data and placing the entire game in a single layer disc.

Flash Element Tower Defense 2

If you're addicted to Tower Defense, be afraid... be very afraid!

As of yesterday, you can now play Flash Elements TD 2.

This type of game, originally inspired on the first Warcraft game, allows you to place defense towers along a path transversed by enemies willing to steal your precious crystals.

As you make extra money, you can upgrade your existing towers, and buy more powerful ones

Even if you never played it before, give it a try - but don't complain once you start wasting hours playing it! (it really is that addictive! :)

Force Dynamics - Affordable Real Virtuality

Are you crazy for flight/driving simulators? Then you'll definitely want to see what I have to show you today. Force Dynamics is a company that specializes in turning virtual reality a lot more realistic. Just check their amazing 301 model in action.



Or, if you prefer F1 racing:



You can find a lot more info and videos on Force-Dynamics.

They call their 301 model a "low-cost" solution - and while I do agree that's quite affordable for professional/commercial simulators, I don't think many hardcore gamers will be ready to hand out $37,500 for it.
These models are designed for professional use - in fact, for added realism they can even offer you a more advanced model:

We also have a 401 with a base price of $52000.00 USD. The 401 has a 4th, yaw axis, which provides 180 degrees of rotation. This was designed to be used as a training simulator for professional race drivers and other high performance drivers.

I sure wouldn't mind taking one of those out for a spin. :)


But all is not lost... and for 2008 they expect to have their new Force Dynamics 201 model ready for shipment .
The 201 will be aimed at the simracer/home user. Basically it will be a scaled-down version of the 301 with more limited motion, but - more importantly - also with a much smaller price tag.

Keep your eyes and ears open, as you may very well be sitting on one less than a year from now.

I do think Force Dynamics may be tapping into an unexplored market here - lots of people invest a lot of money on "gaming". An affordable flight/driving simulator one could have in their own gaming room would surely be a huge success.

Anyone care to comment on how much you'd be willing to spend on such a system?

Eve Online Expansion Deletes Windows XP - MS new tactic to force upgrade to Vista?

Sloppy programming? Lousy beta testing? A new way to intimidate users to upgrade to Vista?

"CCP Games recently released an expansion for their MMORPG Eve Online containing new premium graphics content. However, the installer was programmed to delete C:/boot.ini, making it impossible to reboot without manually repairing your Windows XP installation. Vista is unaffected."

It's completely unacceptable that a game expansion has such a major flaw, rendering computers useless for all but highly advanced users!

Half-life gets to Toronto - or - Toronto gets into Half-Life

If you fancy the idea of playing your games in real settings (even though Jack Thompson will soon complain about how dangerous it is to allow anyone to act berserk in downtown Toronto - I'm sure) City 7: Toronto Conflict is a Half-Life mod featuring your favorite Toronto landmarks.

City 7: Toronto Conflict, is an action packed Half-Life 2 mod with a variety of unique levels and game play. Explore what has become of City 7 in areas like Dundas square, Eaton Center , Mel Lastman square, St. Michael's Hospital and TTC system under the Combine rule. This version features Gordon Freeman as the main character, stuck in Toronto due to a teleporting accident in Kleiner's lab. Try to escape this war torn city by finding any type of teleporting technology and send him back to City 17.

Despite our small development team and short production time, we managed to get halfway to the CN tower and have already created 2-3 hours of fun and action packed game play! We want to finish this mod the way it was intended it to be, as a glimpse at what happen to a part of North American during the Combine invasion.

Philips expands amBX into Quake Territory

For those who haven't heard of Philip's amBX before, it's a technology that hopes to bring a much more immersive and interactive environment to video games, movies, music, and even the internet.

For instance, some of Philips peripherals allow ambient light to change (similar to their ambilight technology used in their TV sets), wind to be blown (either a gentle breeze or a stronger wind), and vibrations and rumble to be felt.

Now, Philips has just signed a deal with id Software (the company that brought us Doom and Quake) to provide an amBX enable mod to Quake 4.
A multi player amBX mod has been already demoed at QuakeCon convention in August, and Philips says it was its success that helped inspire this new mod.

Even though some games are already amBX enabled (such as Supreme Commander, DEFCON, TOCA Race Driver 3, among others) Philips is constantly negotiating with other companies to expand the amBX game portfolio.

As for Quake, for instance, whenever someone uses a scoped weapon, lighting changes with a gradual dimming from the back lights; damage indication is provided by a multi directional red light and rumble, and long jumps are rewarded with wind blowing in your face.
Similarly, power ups cause different ambient lighting scenarios, such as a blue aura for Quad Damage, green ambient for Health, and pulsing yellow for Haste.

Definitely worth a try. :)

ETQW patch 1.2 out today

You can check what's new here.

But the most anticipated feature for ETQW is - without any doubt - the VoIP in-game communication!
Thanks Splash Damage!

There's also a much improved fireteam management system, game balance, bug fixes, and some extra niceties.

The authentication protocol was also slightly altered - on account of some ISPs blocking it, mistaking it for P2P traffic - which has left hundreds of users unable to enjoythis great game.

Dead Space, EA's scariest game

If you're a fan of Alien you'll certainly feel right at home in the latest scary space game from EA.

Just have a look and tell me if the game's environment and atmosphere doesn't make you go and watch all the Alien movies in one go - at least until the game is out.



[Deadspacegame.com]

Reed Richards on MoH:A?

A friend just sent me a screen capture he made while playing Medal of Honor:Airborne.
To me this proves, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Reed Richards - Mr.Fantastic of the Fantastic 4, a.k.a. Elastic Man - does indeed play a guest role in that game.

Or else, it must be his older relative, Mr.Plastic Man rising from the ashes and retuning for new, 21st century adventures. :)

PS3 drops to $399

If you're considering buying a brand new Sony PS3, maybe it would be best to wait a little while longer.

As confirmed by Reuters and Sony itself, this new 40GB (and PS2 incompatible) model will be on sale November 2nd for $399 and the 80GB model will be reduced to $500.

Let's wait and see if this is enough to drive Sony's next generation console sales. The Xbox 360 is still cheaper (while offering an equivalent high quality gaming experience), and the Wii is still the best seller with its innovative Wiimote motion-based play.

For some, this reduction is still too little too late, let's see how consumers react coming this Christmas season.