Archive - 2012

DiRT Showdown Demo Out Now

Los Angeles, Calif. – May 1, 2012 – Featuring both a full-impact solo race and a devastating multiplayer demolition derby event, the DiRT® Showdown™ demo launches worldwide today and is available now from Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network and Steam on PC.

To mark the launch of the demo, Codemasters has released a “Demo Derby” video showcasing the all-action motorized mayhem that players can experience today; the gameplay video is now playing at www.dirtgame.com.

In the demo, the single player “8 Ball” race, players take part in a chaotic, full-impact race in the shadow of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, using boost to sprint ahead of rivals and speeding through crossover points where drivers can dodge or takedown opponents.  Once players have completed the race, they can challenge a friend online to unlock the “Rampage” multiplayer mode.  In “Rampage”, eight drivers feed their appetite for destruction in an online demolition derby event, earning points for crashes, smashes and eliminations.

Gamers who download the DiRT Showdown demo are also invited to sign up for RaceNet*, the free new online extension for Codemasters Racing games, which enables players to track their Races, Rivals and Rewards.  Launching in beta, players who register now will be able to join in community challenges and once the full game launches, track their progress in game and track challenges with their friends.  Gamers who join RaceNet will also be rewarded with an exclusive “RaceNet” skin for use in the full game and will receive $20,000 of in-game currency for DiRT Showdown when it races into retail stores on May 29.

A special “Hoonigan” edition of DiRT Showdown is now available to pre-order exclusively from Walmart.  Sporting unique packaging, the DiRT Showdown: Hoonigan Edition will include an in-game cash boost, an online XP multiplier plus Monster Energy skins for the Kohler D350, Duke Coupe and Ford Fiesta Gymkhana 3 and Hoonigan skins for the Holbrook Growler, Logan Vulture and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X JUN, redeemed via an online code.

DiRT Showdown will deliver a new world of competitive and combative racing as players race, crash and hoon their way to “Showdown” finals on a chaotic tour of motorized mayhem when it launches on May 29 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC.  For all the latest updates straight from the studio, crash over to www.dirtgame.comwww.facebook.com/dirtgame or follow the team atwww.twitter.com/dirtgame.

 

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Razer Announces Naga Hex Wraith Red Edition

Carlsbad, Calif. – 1st May, 2012 – Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, is excited to launch the Razer Naga Hex Wraith Red edition gaming mouse.  The best weapon to cut down hordes of monsters crawling out from the depths of evil is now available to gamers in an all-new blood red color.

Made especially for hack n’ slash, MOBA and Action RPG games, the Razer Naga Hex Wraith Red edition sports the same devastating 6 mechanical side buttons as the original Razer Naga Hex. Bind a hotbar of skills or inventory items to rapidly unleash hell on boss runs and maintain effective crowd control as enemies attack from all sides.  Having the 6 crucial commands so close to your thumb allows for rapid actuations and enemies dead faster than they can react.

The Razer Naga Hex’s mechanical buttons are also highly durable and responsive, capable of registering up to a staggering 250 clicks per minute – perfect for the frantic hyper-clicking of hack ‘n’ slash RPGs.

The Razer Naga Hex Wraith Red edition is available alongside the original Green edition and either will be your perfect companion for hack n’ slash victory.

About the Razer Naga Hex Gaming Mouse

The Razer Naga Hex is perfectly suited for pro-gamers and fans of the MOBA/action-RPG game genres.  It is primed with six mechanical thumb buttons for the exact number of controls necessary to suit the user interfaces of those games. Bind your skill-bar or inventory grid to the six buttons for faster, more comfortably efficient access to your full range of powers as you take the competition down.

Price: $79.99

Availability:

Razerzone.com – Available Now

USA – Available Now

Worldwide – Q2 2012

Product features:

  • 6 MOBA/action-RPG optimized mechanical thumb buttons
  • 11 total programmable buttons
  • Special switches in buttons for up to 250 clicks per minute
  • 10 million click life cycle
  • Ergonomic curved design
  • Razer Synapse 2.0
  • 5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor

For more information on the new Razer Naga, please visit www.razerzone.com/hex

Hyperkin Announces E3 2012 Lineup

NEWPORT BEACH, CA (May 2012)– E3, the premier trade show for the video gaming industry, will take place soon on June 5-7 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and Hyperkin is proud to announce its participation at E3 as an exhibitor. Hyperkin is honored to be amongst the biggest names in video games and looks forward to giving attendees an exclusive first look at their latest products.  Hyperkin’s booth number at E3 is South Hall, Booth #417.

Hyperkin will be unveiling their newest product line which includes:

  • AK Striker– a Playstation Move gun control attachment designed to replicate an AK-47.
  • WGX Foot Controller– a Playstation Move controller that is can be controlled by foot.
  • ComRad Skull Conduction Helmet– a replica military helmet designed to play both game and chat sounds with an attached microphone.
  • Game Genie: Save Guru– a device that manages media applications, as well as access cheats and organize save files for the DS, PSP, PS3 or Wii.
  • Game Genie for PS3– a game enhancement device for the PS3 that unlocks several cheats and adds them into existing save files.
  • RetroN 2– a two in one console that can play both NES and SNES cartridges.

Hyperkin will also be featuring current products such as the SupaBoy (the portable SNES console), the RetroN 3 (the NES/SNES/Genesis all in one console), and the Game Genie DS.

Rockstar Announces Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Downloadable Content Details

This just in from Rockstar Games:

Today we’re happy to announce Max Payne 3 downloadable content plans with a full lineup of multiplayer content planned for release this summer and beyond, starting with the Local Justice Map Pack coming in June. Players will also be able to order the Max Payne 3 Rockstar Pass to get all of the upcoming DLC at a special discounted rate, compared to purchasing each pack individually. Starting today, the Rockstar Pass can be pre-ordered for Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network from Best Buy or GameStop in the United States (or pre-ordered for PSN directly from the PlayStation Store).

The Rockstar Pass grants you access to all upcoming Max Payne 3 DLC and will be available for 2400 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE), or $29.99 (PlayStation Network and PC) – over a 35% discount compared to purchasing the content individually. Once purchased, the Rockstar Pass enables gamers to download all DLC releasing through the end of 2012 via the in-game store as soon as it is made available on Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network, or PC.

The Local Justice Map Pack, coming in June, will include the Police Precinct map for Gang Wars, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer multiplayer modes. The pack will also feature two additional maps for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer, new precinct-themed multiplayer avatar items, multiplayer challenges, and more.

Check out the current release schedule (individual release dates and pricing info will be announced soon) for Max Payne 3 downloadable content packs below and stay tuned for additional packs to be revealed at a later date:

June 2012

Local Justice Map Pack

Summer 2012

Disorganized Crime Map Pack

Deathmatch Made In Heaven Mode Pack

Hostage Negotiation Map Pack

New York Minute Co-Op Pack

Fall 2012

Painful Memories Map Pack

Trickle Down Economics Map Pack

Hellgate Global Announces May Events

LOS ANGLES – May 1, 2012 – T3fun today announced a surge of exciting events for May in Hellgate Global. Savvy hunters will find their skills invaluable in this month’s Daily Hunt. Their courageous efforts to go where no man’s gone before will not go unrewarded. Plenty of first-rate prizes are in store for those who master the Level Rush challenge and as an added bonus, premium item shoppers can also look forward to special offers throughout the month. With a varied lineup of events that are sure to please all types of players, Hellgate Global continues to up the ante this May.

  • · Daily Hunt – With high support and heavy participation from the fans, the Daily Hunt event returns. Search high and low for a set of announced items in the most fiendish of places. Players who can get the items needed while fending off the most dangerous demons will be generously rewarded.
  • · Level Rush – Can you level up faster than everyone else? In this one-of-a-kind event, players will be asked to create new characters and increase their level faster than their competitors. Madness will definitely ensue in this furious race to the level goal.
  • · Weekend Extravaganza – Buying premium items is a great way to help you play the game easier. Now, Hellgate Global gives back to premium item shoppers by offering special bonus items to your purchases. Players who take advantage of this rare opportunity will find themselves breezing through the minions of Hell in no time.

With the fate of the world at stake, it’s time to gear up and take on those ravenous demons that have made the world their playground. The fight for mankind’s survival has now reached its fever pitch!

Join the war against the demons to preserve mankind in Hellgate Global now: http://hellgate.t3fun.com/

Samsung Releases Series 7 Gamer Laptop

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.–Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, today announced the Samsung Series 7 Gamer, the ultimate laptop for gaming enthusiasts. Designed with feedback from passionate PC gamers in mind, the Series 7 Gamer features a 17.3-inch full HD LCD display, high quality Dolby® Home Theater® surround sound, rich NVIDIA® Geforce® graphics and a 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor, as well as a unique dial that allows users to easily transition between four modes for maximum performance at all times.

“When the product is in gaming mode, it takes the experience to the next level by optimizing the graphics and sound, turning on a pulsating light in the speakers and highlighting the gaming keys in red, which truly allows users to immerse themselves in a game.”

“The Series 7 Gamer offers all the elements of a high-powered gaming machine with the convenience of the mode-changing dial, which enables you to switch off components in order to save power and have a quieter experience when you’re using it as a more traditional laptop,” said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. “When the product is in gaming mode, it takes the experience to the next level by optimizing the graphics and sound, turning on a pulsating light in the speakers and highlighting the gaming keys in red, which truly allows users to immerse themselves in a game.”

Dial it Up for Optimized Gaming Performance

The Series 7 Gamer features a unique dial enabling users to switch between four modes optimized for the key major use cases:

1. Gaming Mode – When in gaming mode, a distinctive graphic appears on the screen identifying the active mode. The main gaming keys are highlighted on the keyboard in red, and a light is turned on around the speakers, which pulsates to match the game’s sounds. The Windows® key and touchpad are disabled when a game is inserted, eliminating the possibility of accidentally hitting the wrong part of the keyboard while playing. The keyboard also features ergonomic u-shaped key caps, a 2.7mm keystroke and separated arrow keys, enabling you to engage in rapid play with minimal errors.

2. General Mode – In this mode, the laptop is optimized for regular computing tasks, such as web surfing, Microsoft® Office computing and photo viewing.

3. Quiet Mode – In quiet mode, sounds are disabled and the fan is turned off to result in a quieter experience.

4. Power Saver Mode – To save battery life, only the most critical parts of the processor are running when the laptop is in this mode.

The four distinctive modes of the Series 7 Gamer ensure that the laptop is easy-to-use and meets users’ unique needs in almost all situations.

Rich Audio Visual Experience

The Series 7 Gamer provides a rich, immersive audio and visual experience, enabling users to truly submerge themselves in a game. When in gaming mode, top-of-the-line Dolby® Home Theater®v4 speakers are enabled to provide high quality cinematic surround sound, while the Gamer’s subwoofer allows users to turn up the volume as loud as they’d like with minimal distortion. This audio integration results in not only an outstanding gaming experience, but optimal listening for music and movies as well.

The Series 7 Gamer also offers a premium visual experience. The 17.3-inch next-generation full HD (1920×1080) high-resolution LCD display features Samsung SuperBright™ technology, for a brilliant 400-nit screen (up to 50% brighter than traditional PCs) and a stunning range of color (up to 16 million), allowing users to experience all of the vibrant colors and visuals intended by the game developers.

The gaming experience is further enhanced by the inclusion of NVIDIA® Geforce® GTX675M graphics, resulting in unprecedented quality, virtually flawless playback, and supercharged performance, no matter how fast the game’s action.

High Performance Computing

Powered by a 3rd generation Intel® core™ i7 processor, the Series 7 Gamer delivers unrivalled speed right from the start, resulting not only in high-performance gaming, but faster multitasking, Internet browsing. Through Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0.1 users can also access an automatic burst of speed whenever they need it.

With 16GB of memory and a 1.5 terabyte 7200RPM hard drive,*** Series 7 Gamer users don’t need to compromise when it comes to computing power. While in gaming mode, the laptop’s CPU is turbo-cooled to keep it working at full speed, enabling you to play faster without worrying about your computer’s ability to keep up.

The Series 7 Gamer also offers rapid start-up times and better overall performance, including faster application launches and web browsing speeds that are up to twice as fast (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), thanks to its innovative ExpressCache™ technology, developed by Diskeeper, which provides 8GB of flash memory on the motherboard. Additionally, the inclusion of Samsung’s FastStart technology means that the laptop wakes up from hybrid sleep mode in as little as just two seconds, while Quick Boot has the notebook ready to go – from cold – in as little as just 19 seconds, allowing you to boot up your favorite game nearly instantly.

Signature Samsung Technology

Samsung’s Support Center ensures all content stays safe and can help troubleshoot any particular problem. Accessible with a keyboard shortcut, the Support Center helps users manage their system settings or arrange for a tech-support web chat. Samsung’s Back-up & Recovery Solution also allows users to create and restore back-ups of system data on the device, or on a network or removable storage device.

The Samsung Series 7 Gamer is available now and will retail for $1,899.99 MSRP. All Samsung mobile PC products are available through Samsung resellers and distribution channels including Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect. For a full list of retailers, call 1-800-SAMSUNG or visit www.samsung.com.

Key Specs:

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, to benefits, design, components, performance, availability and capability of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

         
Processor       3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor
Operating System       Windows 7 HP
Memory

(Max)

      16 GB
Storage (max)       1.5 TB
Screen       17.3-inches
Resolution       1920×1080
Graphics       NVIDIA® Geforce® GTX675M
Speakers       Dolby® Home Theater® v4
Integrated Camera       2.0MP HD
Battery       Up to 3.7 hours
Wireless       802.11 a/b/g/n
Weight       13.34 lbs
MSRP       $1,899.99

** Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, power management settings, applications used, and wireless settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and use. Test results based on independent third party Mobile Mark tests. Non-Metric weights and measurements are approximate. Total amount of available memory may be less based on configuration.

***Accessible capacity varies; MB = 1 million bytes, GB = 1 billion bytes, TB = 1 trillion bytes. Please note that a portion of the hard drive is reserved for system recovery, operating system and preloaded content software

Update for Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator

May 1st, 2012 – Thom Robertson (http://artemis.eochu.com/) released a new version (v.1.65) of the PC game, Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator.

Changes and new features of this update include:

  • Upgraded the 3D graphics engine.
  • Major revisions to existing enemy races and ships.
  • New fighters, carriers and drones.
  • Space Whales.
  • New self-destruct sequence.
  • More customization options and a host of small fixes.

Artemis is a multiplayer, multi-computer networked game for Windows. Artemis simulates a spaceship bridge by networking several computers together. Unlike many networked multi-player games, Artemis was designed to be played by 3-6 players together in one room but it can also be played online.

In Artemis, one computer is the main screen, while the others serve as one of the five workstations (Helm, Communication, Engineering, Science, and Weapon Control). Working together as a bridge crew, the players warp around the sector, protecting space stations from a multitude of alien ships. Once the Artemis has expended its torpedoes and energy, the crew can replenish the ship by docking with a space station.

Free Realms Turns Three

SAN DIEGO, CALIF.April 30, 2012 – The fun and celebration continues in Free Realms® as Sony Online Entertainment’s (SOE) family-friendly, free-to-play online game turns three years old. To celebrate its third birthday, Free Realms is inviting players across the PC, Macintosh® and PlayStation®Network to an array of exciting in-game activities including a number of birthday story quests, daily birthday rewards, and an epic in-game world event featuring the return of one of Sacred Grove’s favorite villains, Cakenstein.

Through a truly customizable gameplay experience, Free Realms allows players in an online world to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Players can customize their own virtual home, adopt a pet, play fun minigames or even test their skills on the battlefield against the toughest enemies. Since its initial launch, Free Realms has surpassed 20 million registered users and continues to actively grow. While only a mere three years old, the game already has an arsenal of achievements; from having more than 59,000 in-game items such as customizable pets and unique clothing including the popular “Skeletal Hoodie,” to players starting more than 112.8 million collection quests.

“We are so very thankful for all of our Free Realms players,” said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. “We believe our players are our extended family and celebrating this birthday is a great testament to them. As the Free Realms community continues to grow, our goal will always be to find new ways to keep our players engaged and give them fun experiences to discover and enjoy. To further support this goal, in the next few weeks, we will be bringing players an opportunity to go even deeper into the world of Free Realms, and I can’t wait to see and hear their reactions.”

To complement Free Realms’ three-year milestone, SOE will be rewarding all players with a special birthday hat, hosting a number of in-game community events, and offering birthday items for purchase in the in-game Marketplace including a party Piñata pet, birthday furniture, and more.

Free Realms is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) with content descriptors of Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence.

To play Free Realms now, please visit: http://www.FreeRealms.com

For Free Realms updates and information, follow Free Realms on Facebook and Twitter.

6 New Dishonored Screenshots

Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios have released six new screenshots from their upcoming first-person shooter, Dishonored. Enjoy!

Screenshots