Archive - 2013

The Aurora World Closed Beta Trailer

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

The Aurora World

Toronto, CANADA – February 21, 2013 — GBE Entertainment Limited, a global publisher and distributor of interactive online entertainment media is proud to announce that it will launch its closed beta test for their new MMORPG, The Aurora World on March 7th. Already established in numerous countries across the globe, The Aurora World is eager to continue its success in North America. Players can find out more about the game at www.theauroraworld.com and find out where to grab a closed beta key. View the new video below.

The Aurora World story takes place after a cataclysmic war between the Gods in Heaven, leaving the world in chaos. Players will venture across the land to unite powers of good and vanquish evil, taking on eight different professions with their own unique specializations and mastery system, comprising an extensive PvE experience with entertaining daily quests, events and crafting, alongside a robust PvP system that includes large scale Nation Wars, clan wars, a PK system and coliseum mode. The Aurora World also offers the unique hybrid pet/mount system known as Majinns that will aid players in their journey while being immersed into a world of lush environments and detailed character models, powered by Aurora Interactive’s self-developed graphics engine.

Players can look forward to three special events during the closed beta, depending on how they play and experience the game. First, all players who Facebook connect with The Aurora World will be given cash shop items to test during the closed beta. Second, there will be a random draw amongst the top 100 players with the most log-in time; five lucky winners will receive a Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Gaming Keyboard (http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-blackwidow-ultimate-2013)! Another five will receive an amazing Razer Naga Gaming Mouse (http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga/)! Lastly, all players who reach level 30 before the end of closed beta will receive a special gift package when open beta begins.

Players can track all the information and subscribe for future news and updates on Aurora World’s official Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheAuroraWorld or on the official forums at www.theauroraworld.com.

Trailer

Kartuga to Enter Closed Beta Testing

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

Feb13Kartuga_UI

Kartuga, the upcoming pirate actioner from InnoGames, will be entering closed beta testing starting on February 27th, 2013. The beta will see all three classes available as well as full customization for each. InnoGames has also revealed that more than 20 of the game’s 40 ship types will be available in the game as well.

Official Press Release

Hamburg, February 21, 2013. InnoGames just announced the closed beta start of its upcoming pirate action game Kartuga. From the 27th on, Players will be able to test Kartuga for the first time – InnoGames will start with a small group of dedicated fans and then expand player numbers as the beta proceeds. The closed beta can be accessed by pre-registering on www.kartuga.com or visiting the InnoGames-Facebook page, where keys will be given out daily.

With the start of the closed beta, InnoGames has released additional information on the features already implemented. All three classes will be playable, along with full customization via 9 skill branches. Also, more than 20 of the game’s targeted 40 ship types will be implemented. Players can already try out both PvP-modes: Domination, a variation of classic king-of-the-hill, and Destruction, a mode where a bomb has to be detonated in the enemy team’s base. Furthermore, five areas of the large open world of Kartuga are accessible, enabling players to encounter NPCs and solve various quests in between PvP-matches.

Kartuga is an Action-MMO with RPG-elements, designed in Unity 3D. At the core of the game, developed by Ticking Bomb Games, is cooperative PvP.  Players can pre-register for closed beta at www.kartuga.com.

With more than 100 million registered players, InnoGames is one of the world’s leading developers and providers of online games. The Hamburg-based company has scored major successes with games such as Tribal Wars, Forge of Empires and Grepolis.

Arma 3 will be Steam Exclusive

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News

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Bohemia Interactive has revealed that their upcoming Arma 3 will be a Steam-exclusive title, meaning it will require connection to the Steam servers to play. According to the development house, this has made it possible to release the game in 2013 – otherwise, they would be looking at a later release window. The studio had some recent troubles as two of its developers were arrested and, after a lengthy-detention, released on charges of espionage.

New Screens

Official Press Announcement

Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday 21 February 2013 – Ahead of their release plans announcement, Bohemia Interactive has revealed that Valve’s Steam will be required to play Arma 3. In a developer’s blog post, Project Lead Joris-Jan van ‘t Land explains the studio’s motivations, stating that the game could otherwise not be released in 2013.

The “Full Steam Ahead” blog post mentions a difficult phase in development, which also involved the recent incident in Greece. These setbacks drove the studio to re-evaluate the project, and Joris-Jan van ‘t Land refers to the decision for Steam as one of the steps to set Arma 3 back on track for a 2013 release.

“As an independent developer, we’re constantly evaluating the way we develop, distribute and publish games. Valve made tremendous improvements to their system, which made the installation/update process much more user-friendly – for both developers and customers“ , adds Bohemia Interactive’s founder and CEO, Marek Španěl.

“We realize that some people may find it difficult to migrate to a new platform, especially if they were used to purchasing and playing our games without any external third-party application. We have evaluated the pros and cons, but in the end Steam enables us to release Arma 3, brings massive advantages to the game, and improves the end-user experience. Not to forget, the majority of our players already come from Steam.“

Bohemia Interactive is also exploring the further integration of Steamworks functionality, which would enable game features that are impossible to develop in-house, on time. Joris-Jan van ‘t Land: “Valve’s Steamworks offers some cool features that can help us to enhance the Arma experience where it matters. We’ll save the exact details for a later update, but to summarize our priorities in two key words: user-generated content and multiplayer.”

EVGA Announces GTX Titan

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, Tech News

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EVGA has announced its version of NVidia’s GTX Titan GPU, which boasts 6GB of GDDR5 memory, NVidia SMX Engine, vapor chamber cooling, and a whole lot more. This card is so blazing fast, it can strip the paint off your house and give your family a permanent orange afro. Checkout the full press release below for all the details on this monster.

Official Press Release

21 February, 2013 – Welcome to the era of Supercomputer Gaming. With the DNA of the world’s fastest supercomputer and the soul of NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture, the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN is a revolution in PC gaming performance. The EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN combines extraordinary power, advanced control features with EVGA Precision X, and game-changing thermal and acoustic capabilities to provide an entirely new class of super-performance graphics cards.

Key Features:

  • NVIDIA SMX Engine – The new Kepler SMX streaming multiprocessor is twice as efficient as the prior generation and the new geometry engine draws triangles twice as fast. The result is world class performance and the highest image quality in an elegant and power efficient graphics card.
  • NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 – Dynamically maximize clock speeds to push performance to new levels and bring out the best in every game. Boost 2.0 allows complete control over Temperature Target and Power Target, allowing a new way to customise your overclock. Also, with the new EVGA Precision X, you can increase the voltage for maximum over clock!
  • 6GB of Onboard GDDR5 Memory – Yes, you read that right. A full 6144MB of high speed, GDDR5 memory, perfect for the latest games at ultra settings in NVIDIA Surround. If you want to max out the texture quality on the latest games, a large enough frame buffer is essential for maintaining smooth gameplay. The EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN has enough for today’s and tomorrow’s high resolution games.
  • NVIDIA FXAA – Anti-aliasing smoothes out jagged edges but can be demanding on framerates. FXAA is a new anti-aliasing technology that produces beautiful smooth lines with minimal performance impact. And with Kepler based GPUs, you can enable FXAA in hundreds of game titles through the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  • NVIDIA TXAA – An in-game option that combines MSAA, temporal filtering, and post processing for even higher visual fidelity. Get the image quality of 8X MSAA with the performance hit of only 2X MSAA. This means a smoother gaming experience without the loss in FPS normally associated with this level of eye candy.
  • NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync – Nothing is more distracting than framerate stuttering and screen tearing. The first tends to occur when framerates are low, the second when framerates are high. Adaptive V-Sync is a smarter way to render frames. At high framerates, V-sync is enabled to eliminate tearing; at low frame rates, it’s disabled to minimize stuttering. It gets rid of distractions so you can get on with gaming.
  • Frame Rate Target – Set a target Frame Rate with EVGA Precision X and your card will automatically adjust the power/performance to meet that target. This feature delivers the ultimate in efficient gaming.
  • NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround – Imagine expanding your gaming real estate across three displays in full HD 3D for a completely immersive gaming experience. With the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN, you can also use award-winning NVIDIA 3D Vision technology to build the world’s first multi-display 3D gaming experience on your PC. Additionally, the GeForce GTX TITAN supports an accessory display for the ultimate gaming experience!
  • PCI Express 3.0 – Offers double the bandwidth of PCI Express 2.0, for the highest data transfer speeds to allow for maximum performance in bandwidth-hungry games and 3D applications. The GTX TITAN is still backwards compatible with all existing PCI Express motherboards.
  • Pixel Clock Control – Use EVGA Precision X to “overclock” your refresh rate. With the latest EVGA Precision X, you can now increase your pixel clock! This allows for increased refresh rates on select monitors, meaning smoother gameplay and reduced screen tearing!
  • Vapor Chamber Cooling – This unique cooler helps lower temperatures compared to standard heatsinks. This type of cooling device uses the superior heat transfer properties of evaporation. Inside each vapor chamber is a small amount of water. As the GPU heats up, the water evaporates, removing heat in the process. As the water cools down, it condenses, and the process repeats itself.

Learn more about the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN here: http://www.evga.com/articles/00729

In addition to the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN, EVGA is also introducing a new version of its popular “Precision” overclocking software: EVGA Precision X 4.0.0. Redesigned to support the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN, version 4.0.0 adds many new features for nearly all EVGA graphics cards.

EVGA Precision X 4.0.0 provides many new and key features:

  • GPU and Memory Frequency/Clock Offset
  • Power Target Control (GeForce GTX Titan / 600)
  • Temperature Target Control (GeForce GTX Titan)
  • Pixel Clock Overclocking – OC your refresh rate!
  • Frame Rate Target Control
  • GPU Voltage Adjustment + Overvoltage (GeForce GTX Titan)
  • Custom Fan Control/Fan Curve
  • Profiling system allowing up to 10 profiles with hotkey
  • Robust monitoring allowing ingame, system tray and/or Logitech LCD monitoring
  • In game screenshot hotkey, supports BMP, PNG and JPG formats
  • Custom skins including ones created by the EVGA community!
  • Support for wireless Bluetooth overclocking via custom Android app
  • Multi-language support: English, Dutch, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese

Learn more about EVGA Precision X 4.0.0 and download it for free here: http://www.evga.com/precision

Irrational Games Announces BioShock Infinite Season Pass

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, PlayStation 3 News, Windows PC News, Xbox 360 News

BioShock-Infinite-Beast-of-America-Trailer_8

New York, NY – February 21, 2013 – 2K Games and Irrational Games today announced that production of downloadable content has recently begun for their forthcoming BioShock® Infiniteand revealed details of the BioShock Infinite Season Pass*. Three all-new add-on packs will provide hours of additional gameplay and continue the player’s journey in the sky-city of Columbia with new stories, characters, abilities and weapons.

The BioShock Infinite Season Pass will be available on March 26, 2013 when the game is planned to launch, and provide nearly $30.00 of add-on content for $19.99 (PlayStation®Network, Windows® PC) or 1,600 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network) – a savings of more than 30%. The Season Pass will include all three add-on packs, and can be pre-ordered today through www.preordernow.com or at a participating retailer**.

Those who purchase the BioShock Infinite Season Pass will also receive the Early Bird Special Pack at no extra cost. This bonus pack contains four pieces of exclusive gear, a Machine Gun Damage Upgrade, a Pistol Damage Upgrade, a gold skin for both weapons and five Infusion bottles that allow players to increase their health, their shield durability or their ability to use Vigors by increasing the quantity of Salts they can carry.

In addition, those who pre-order BioShock Infinite will receive the Industrial Revolution Pack for free. This pack grants exclusive access to three in-game gear items that boost combat abilities, $500 bonus to in-game currency, five lock picks and the Industrial Revolution puzzle game, which unlocks stories of Columbia and allows players to pledge their allegiance to the Vox Populi or Founders through Facebook.

BioShock Infinite is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For the latest news and information on BioShock Infinite, become a fan on Facebook and follow Irrational Games on Twitter.

*Xbox LIVE, PlayStation®Network or Steam account and Internet connection required. Copy of BioShock Infinite required for play.

**For Xbox 360 this is a purchase of Microsoft Points, redeemable via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360.

GUNS and ROBOTS Gets Ranking System, Balance, and Weapon Updates

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

gunsandrobots

SOFIA, BULGARIA – February 21, 2013 Masthead Studios, a leading independent developer, today released several updates that have been rolled out in their free to play online shooter GUNS and ROBOTS. Some of the major updates include new ranking system, global balance patch and new weapons.

The new update has replaced the old credit system with a new updated balance system that will assist in the outcome of each game. With this patch players will receive much more bonus credits after battle. Some major changes and improvements in the statistics of free robot parts have been made as well.

The improved ranking system provides players with several different ranks that are shown with funny little icons at the beginning of each battle. It tracks the number of battles and the damage output each player has made during their performance in the game. This new ranking system brings an additional level of enjoyment and involvement.

The game features some new weapons for quick and intense matches. The team have added a cheap weapon called “The Stingray“. The Stingray is one of the weapons that launches electro-tip darts at your opponent that will shock and short-circuit his systems.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Confirmed for PS4

2013/02/21
Jerry Paxton
News, PlayStation 4 News

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February 21, 2013 — CD Projekt RED’s upcoming story-driven, open world RPG will launch on Sony’s PlayStation 4 once the game is released in 2014. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the final episode of the award-winning RPG series and triumphant finish to the legend of Geralt of Rivia. While the Witcher 3 is the pinnacle to the Witcher series, it is also a standalone story that players new and old will love as they have another chance to live the dangerous life of a witcher. With the capabilities of PlayStation 4 and the next-gen ready REDengine 3, The Witcher 3 will be a truly amazing RPG.

“We were thrilled when asked, several months ago, to be one of the developers who were granted early access to the PlayStation 4. It was an exciting moment to be invited to be in the company of other legendary developers like Bethesda, EA, LucasArts, Ubisoft or Activision as one of the teams working on titles shipping early in the PlayStation 4’s lifecycle. Of course, we couldn’t reveal any specifics about this to our fans, even though many journalists and forum members asked about when and how The Witcher might show up on Sony’s console. After yesterday’s PlayStation Meeting we can finally promise: The Witcher 3 is coming to the PlayStation 4. The new hardware gives us the opportunity to create something great. We are able to work with the new console from its birth and this allows our in-house REDengine 3 to push the graphical limits of what the PlayStation hardware can display. The console is fresh and has some innovative solutions that we’re looking forward to using in our game” said Adam Badowski, head of CD Projekt RED studio.

Yesterday Sony confirmed the release of their new console and distinguished CD Projekt RED as one of the developers creating games for the new platform.

“It’s a real pleasure to cooperate with Sony. Combining CD Projekt RED’s unique artistic vision and tech with the capabilities of PlayStation 4 will make The Witcher 3 a truly next-gen RPG. With Sony’s new hardware and our new engine, there are no limits to what we can create in the process of realizing our vision for Geralt’s dark fantasy world,” commented Adam Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt SA.

Earlier this month, Game Informer revealed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and called it “a must see next generation RPG”. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be the most robust and breathtaking game ever created by CD Projekt RED, combining a free-roaming environment with a non-linear story which makes the game a real RPG fan’s dream come true. Open world exploration is an adventure in itself as the player will gallop through war-ravaged lands, sail misty waters, and track down dangerous beasts for money. An improved combat system will allow players to feel like a real monster hunter, a witcher, who uses his superior senses and fighting skills to survive in a dark fantasy world while he embarks on a quest to save his loved ones.

Studio head Adam Badowski summed up, “The Witcher 3 will be released in 2014 simultaneously on all high-end platforms available. We know that our fans are looking forward to that date already, but we want to make it clear that this story is a standalone, and we will be sure introduce newcomers fully to the world so that they don’t miss a beat. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will start with an breathtaking opening, which will give many insights to the lore. The game design will allow smooth introduction to new characters and encourage players to discover the vast, living open world of this installment of Geralt’s tale.”

iBuyPower Unveils GTX Titan GPU for Custom PCs

2013/02/20
Jerry Paxton
News, Tech News

ibuypower big logo

February 20, 2013, City of Industry, CA – Prepare yourself for the highest levels of cutting-edge performance. iBUYPOWER is proud to announce the availability of NVIDIA’s latest graphics beast: the GeForce GTX TITAN.

The new GeForce GTX TITAN is a single-GPU solution that’s unlike anything else on the market. Coupled with a monstrous 6GB of GDDR5 video memory, GeForce GTX TITAN provides thrill-seeking gamers with unrelenting power.

“We know that gamers continue to demand the most from their systems, and providing our customers with the ability to build their performance systems with NVIDIA’s new GeForce GTX Titan is something we believe they will love,” said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER, “and we’re really excited about putting GTX TITAN in some of our most unique systems, like Revolt.”

iBUYPOWER recently shook the PC gaming industry with the launch of the Revolt, the company’s daring take on PC system design. Despite its highly integrated and slim form factor, Revolt is fully GeForce GTX TITAN ready. But it doesn’t stop there. A wide variety of systems is supported, including many of iBUYPOWER’s custom gaming desktops. With larger gaming systems, customers will be able to take advantage of blistering performance by harnessing SLI.

Check out how you can configure an iBUYPOWER gaming system with the GeForce GTX TITAN at www.ibuypower.com/info/NVIDA-Titan.aspx