Blizzard has released another new batch of concept art for Diablo III. We’ve been treated to a relatively large number of screens and art for its long-awaited action RPG already, so we feel it’s safe to assume this will be the trend leading up to the release next year. You won’t find us complaining. Check out the website here.
Ubisoft has revised the release date of their forthcoming arcade flight sim - it’s now set to arrive at the beginning of next year. With ‘real’ planes including the F-22, Eurofighter, MIG-29, Su-37 and F-16 we’re keen to see quite how this dog-fighting combat game is going to stack up. Do you really want it or should arcade-style shooters stay in the console domain? Get on our forum at www.totalpcgaming.com/forum and let us know!
“The setting is 2012. As the era of the nation-state draws quickly to a close, the rules of warfare evolve even more rapidly. More and more nations become increasingly dependent on Private Military Companies (PMCs) – elite mercenaries with a lax view of the law. The Reykjavik Accords further legitimize their existence by authorizing their right to serve in every aspect of military operations. There goes the neighbourhood”
Publisher Atari has announced plans to re-release last years rather good RPG The Witcher with all sorts of enhancements. Whilst this probably won’t do much to attract those who have already bought and completed the game, it might attract some who were put off by a few of the game’s flaws last time around.
“The Witcher: Enhanced Edition brings the game even closer to perfection with a number of technical and visual improvements jammed into the value-packed retail box. The enhancements introduced in this version include more than 5000 lines of re-written and re-recorded dialogue, more than 200 new dialogue animations, a new character differentiation system for NPCs, an enhanced inventory with improved alchemy, reduced loading times, improved combat responsiveness and much more.” Read more on the official website.
NVIDIA’s new video cards are set to receive a much-needed price drop in order to compete more effectively with AMD’s 4800 series. As we reported last week, the G200 cards were not selling as quickly as anticipated for a new GeForce release. Whilst this might attract new buyers, we can’t help but feel sorry for those who just shelled out up to £400 for their 280 only to see its price plummet by as much as £100!
Intel has now officially launched its Montevina platform which is set to make up the Centrino 2 architecture for high spec notebooks. Centrino branding has been a real hit for Intel, though with the new graphics subset scoring a ‘rip roaring’ 3DMark score of just 429, you will still want to make sure the words GeForce or Radeon are in your gaming notebook’s spec.
“In San Francisco on July 14, the Intel Montevina project morphed into the Intel® Centrino® 2 platform. Beyond jacking up performance and improving battery life, this beauty spread its wireless wings with the latest in Wireless-N (Draft-N) technology.”
Read more here
In a move that could see the UK move into the broadband fast lane for the first time, BT has pledged to lay enough fibre optic cabling to allow ten million customers access to ultra high speed broadband. Virgin customers in digital cable areas can of course already access the technology, which the media giant intends to crank up to 50Mbps before the end of the year.
“We will deliver a sea of fast broadband, with islands of super-fast broadband…[but] We need to be able to demonstrate that we can make a better return for shareholders than putting the money in the bank”
Read more here
Small Form Factor experts Shuttle have today announced the release of a brand new AMD AM2+ based bare-bones system featuring a new ‘H7′ housing design said to ‘lay the foundation for coming generations of mini-PCs’.
The Shuttle XPC Barebone SN78SH7 is powered by a 300 watt 80 PLUS power supply and comes complete with an automatic fan speed control system with heat-pipe technology designed to consistently maintain a stable and safe temperature.
Shuttle said: “Audiophiles will enjoy the high quality 8-channel sound chip with DTS Connect and Dolby Digital Live! certification,” and added that sound can be digitally transmitted via an optical SPDIF socket.
Integrated DX10-compatible graphics are powered by NVIDIAs GeForce 8200 GPU and a HDMI (1.3) connector on the rear means full HD can be enjoyd without putting too much pressure on an installed Phenom processor.
The Shuttle XPC Barebone SN78SH7 is available now at all good stockists or you can search www.totalpcgaming.com/shop over the coming days to find the best price.
Total PC Gaming has arrived in LA! The city of gang violence, hardcore pornography and, lets not forget, angels. We may have just endured a grueling 12 hour flight - sat next to a man who insisted on giving us a smell of his colon every 15 minutes - but we’re now in the LA Convention centre to bring you news and ramblings from this year’s E3 (the video game trade show that’s kind of lost its magic, but is going to stick around for a little while longer until someone starts-up something better).
For our latest coverage of the event you should direct yourself to our Blog page here
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, Spore needs no introduction. Will Wright’s evolutionary blockbuster isn’t cited for release until early September, but publisher EA has released the Creature Creator segment of the game early to garner some not-really-needed interest. A free trial is now available from www.spore.com/trial . The question is, will Spore live up to the hype? Not long to wait now…
CD Projekt, developer of award-winning PC title The Witcher, is taking a retro step into distribution future with GOG.com, a digital platform that allows you to download classic titles for a very modest fee. These will be optimized for Windows XP and Vista, and will be available for a modest $5.99 or $9.99. More significantly, they’ll all be DRM free and once paid for, downloadable as many times as needed - giving GOG.com a clear advantage over Steam. CD Projekt has already secured licences for games from Interplay and Codemasters’ back catalogues and hopes to add Lucasarts titles such as Sam & Max and the Monkey Island games in the near future. Currently CD Projeckt have a tantlising line-up that includes Fallout, Fallout 2, MDK, Freespace 2, Operation Flashpoint: Game of the Year Edition and TOCA Race Driver 3, with their ultimate goal being to offer “a comprehensive collection of classic PC games from the 80s, 90s and 2000s.”
Check out our GOG.com competition on the TPCG forum.