PC Gaming News and Notes

[NOTKyle]

General discussion of PC gaming, as well as news, announcements, and rumours.

[STDSkillz]

Here are some reviews/specs for ATI's new supercard, the HD 4870 X2. It's very well received:

Guru3d (http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/1)
AMD (http://game.amd.com/us-en/unlock_radeonhd4870x2.aspx?p=1)
ENG (http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/12/amd-dubs-hd-4870-x2-worlds-fastest-graphics-card-benchmarks/)
Tom's (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/4870-x2-amd,1992.html)

[Gary_Busey]

Looks like they finally got their shit together. They were getting stomped by nVidia when their new series first came out.

[STDSkillz]

Yes, ATI is making a strong comeback with its 48xx series. They're awesome cards. And with news that nVidia's revenue for the second quarter was down 23% (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38858/118/), and that the G84, G86, G92, and G94 cores might all be defective (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/12/nvidia-g92s-g94-reportedly), ATI could pull away very soon (I really hope that last bit of news isn't true, I have the G92 GTS!).

[satandole666]

I can't wait to get my hands on a 4870x2...maybe 2 if I can afford it.

I'd love to see Crysis at 1080p with all of the goodies turned up.

[Gary_Busey]

Nice article on modding.

http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/Best-Game-Mods.aspx?&Page=1

[STDSkillz]

Anyone see this about EA and Red Alert 3?


Amidst all the panicked hubbub of the holiday season, EA slipped Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 into stores last week -- or at least, most of it. Not included in many unlucky game boxes was a mega-crucial 0.0001% of the game experience: the last digit of the Red Alert 3's CD Key. Uh-oh.

Fret not, however, if you're planning to commandeer and consume a copy of the game, because EA's brightest minds have put their synapses into overdrive in order to whip up a work-around (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=281996).

"There is currently a work-around that may allow you to bypass this issue. Since you have the first 19 characters of the code already, you can basically try guessing the last character," said a note on EA's customer support site.

Yes, they're serious.

"To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to play the game."Source (http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/ea_recommends_hilarious_workaround_red_alert_3_cd_ key_issue)



Everyone knew that EA is a company full of retards, but damn.

[Le Goat]

vid (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/22810)

Been looking for an excuse to get back into the first Half-Life (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2010527), but find yourself no longer capable of stomaching the decade-old graphics? Then you may want to keep an eye out for Black Mesa: Source (http://blackmesasource.com/index.php), a gorgeous looking user-developed mod that dresses up the Half-Life we all know and love with the visuals and physics of Half-Life 2 (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2006921). As evidenced by the shockingly well-made trailer (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/22810) above, this thing goes far beyond previous attempts to update the classic FPS -- including Valve's own Half-Life: Source.The mod is scheduled to release sometime next year, and -- because the Black Mesa team created the game's assets from scratch -- all you'll need to play it is a Steam account and any one of the numerous Source engine games. Just keep your fingers crossed that this project doesn't run into any legal troubles (http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=6&cId=3148820) before then.

[Draven X 23]

Today I got my invite to a Beta of an MMO called Free Realms. Kinda kiddie looking but so far its pretty simple. And since its free and I have some free time I'll give it a week or so of playing.

Anyone else heard of this? I think I sent in to beta test it a long time ago and totally forgot about it.

[Skybase]

Huh. went to check it out and apparently I'd signed up for the beta at some point as well. It's telling me that I've already signed up for it as well. Maybe I should check out my email.

[Change]

If any of you guys have Gamespot accounts get over there now for free Battlefield Heroes Beta codes.

[Gary_Busey]

I can't lie, I'm tempted to drop $300 on this thing and tear up some IL-2.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/logitechs-high-end-flight-system-g940-hands-on/

[Skybase]

I saw that recently. As much as I like my current Saitek setup, Logitech makes some good product. and it's force feedback and all that as well. I"m very interested as well!

[Gary_Busey]

Anyone played ArmA II? I been looking up on it, and this video makes me want to get it.

khG8pVEmzO4