According to AP news, veteran actor Roy Scheider passed away at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock at the age of 75. The actor had been treated at the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy unit there for around the last two years. The official cause of death was not disclosed.
Fans will most likely remember Scheider from his roles in Jaws and later, SeaQuest. However, the actor had acted in over 80 films in his long-spanning career. He will be missed.
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Logitech. The name brings up thoughts of numerous gaming peripherals from mice to pro flight yokes. The DriveFX is Logitech’s current racing wheel for the Xbox 360. It touts several features and we are about to get down and dirty with the unit to put them to the test.
Features:
* Axial Feedback Technology: Get behind the wheel and let the authentic road feel guide your way.
* Standard Xbox 360® Buttons: Jump right in without learning anything new.
* Adjustable-Sensitivity Steering: Put customizable control in your grasp.
* Gas and Brake Pedals: Get instant response with true-to-life pedals.
* Wheel-Mounted Paddle Shifters: Shift through the gears lightning fast with F-1 style paddle.
* Injection Molded Wheel: Keep your hands comfortable with this seamless 10-inch wheel.
* Soft Rubber Grips: High grade non-slip grips provide unparalleled comfort during intense racing.
Design/Construction: The DriveFX is primarily made of black, hard plastic. It has a sharp, professional appearance which exudes quality. The DriveFX is not a lap-friendly wheel, meaning it was designed to be clamped down to a table, desk, or gaming chair mount of less than three inches thick. This is evident in the two large clamps that extend from the bottom of the unit. Any gamer familiar with a pro-flight yoke for their PC knows what I say is true: the unit is VERY stable when clamped down to a surface, even though in this case the clamps are not rubberized. So while many gamers will miss the ability to slap a racing wheel onto their laps and play, trust us when we say: This is better.
The construction of the DriveFX’s wheel is excellent. It feels very solid and the rugged rubber grips add a great amount of control when turning the wheel. Two small paddle shifters are located on the back side of the wheel. They are not levers but instead, buttons activated by angled plastic pieces that replicate paddles. Even though the button press is not as realistic as a lever’s motion, it is more precise and consistent. The standard Xbox controller buttons and directional ‘D’ pad are located in the inner-area of the wheel. They were all within reach of my thumbs which allowed me to easily activate them while in the middle of a race.
The wheel unit is connected via serial port to the pedal unit. The pedals are the weaker of the two links in this package, as they do not feel nearly as solid as the wheel. In addition, the pedals’ base unit where they expect you to rest your foot was not long enough for my feet and I only wear size 13 men’s shoes. Alright, so that may be asking alot, but with it being as thin as it is, my foot was not at the most comfortable of angles to hit the pedals. It would be fine for maybe 45 minutes of play, but after that my lower legs would definitely need some moving about. The pedals are pressure sensitive, which adds a great deal of control to accelerating and braking while gaming, so that is one great thing about them.
The serial port connects to the back side of the wheel unit next to the input for the included AC adapter. Unfortunately, there is no fastening device (thumbscrews or otherwise) to keep the serial connector in the port. If moved around, the connector could come loose.
Gaming: We tested our wheel out in Burnout Paradise as well as Forza 2. The features we have mentioned thus far are all well and good while gaming. The unit is very sturdy and reliable. THE best feature of this unit however, is its ‘Axial-Feedback’ technology. Microsoft has been stingy with its trademarked Force Feedback platform, so only select wheels can use it. The DriveFX is one peripheral that cannot use it, so Logitech has created their own feedback system which is almost as good – better in some respects.
The Axial Feedback system detects rumble signals that would normally be translated into a shaky control pad and instead, attempts to translate that into wheel feedback. Running off the track will cause the wheel to vibrate and give you enough feedback to know something is a miss and you should watch where you are going. This feedback response is just one part of the Axial Feedback system and is where Force Feedback would be better as the effect was never strong enough for our tastes.
Aside from this, there is an absolutely amazing counter-torsion or, return-to-center, drag inherent in the Axial Feedback system. Most times in Force Feedback wheels, the return to center effect is too unnatural, feeling like you are being shoved back to the center point instead of how a real car acts, more like a gentle dragging motion. The DriveFX captures this ‘drag’ very well, and is where the AF system thrives and pulls ahead of a Force Feedback design. If there was a way to get Force Feedback effects with the Axial Feedback’s return-to-center drag the unit would be a perfect 10.
Conclusion: Logitech’s DriveFX gaming wheel is an excellent choice for driving games on the Xbox 360. While not a true ‘Force Feedback’ wheel, it outshines that technology in it’s counter-torsion effect. In addition, it is the sturdiest, most rugged wheel we have seen for the console at this time.
Cryptic Comet’s Armageddon Empires(AE) is a turn based strategy game set in a post apocalyptic Earth torn asunder by the war making of two different alien races. After the conflict leaves our planet, the human survivors and some abandoned alien troops are left to fight it out for global domination.
Gameplay: Cryptic Comet chose to use a ‘collectible card game’ (CCG) system of building a ‘deck’ of units and other special tiles to use in AE. Once a deck is built, it can be used by the specified side as long as the game map allows a deck of that many units and tile cards. This ensures fairness in that each side is limited to the max number of each type cards.
Upon entering a game, you set out any tile cards you have in your deck onto the hexagonal game board, followed by your initial side’s base/stronghold card. From there, the game moves into the actual movement/action phase. The order of which side acts first, second, and so on is determined by a ‘roll’ of virtual dice to determine ‘initiative’. Rolling for initiative is used heavily throughout the game to not only decide which side acts first in the action phase, but also when two armies meet in combat.
When in the movement/action phase of the game, you have a tilebar that can hold 8 cards from your deck at any given time. You may only deploy unit cards that are in those eight slots. Once a card is deployed you may request an addition one be dealt from your deck to take its place. The player has a set number of action points(AP) depending on the order of which your side acts. These APs are your currency for acting, whether it be asking for an additional card from your deck, moving or deploying a unit, etc. In AE, players will have to take into account the other four resources in the game as well, all of which can be increased by capturing tiles on the board that generate them as many actions require certain amounts of these resources in addition to APs to work.
In the early part of a game, your time is spent performing recon missions to uncover hidden caches and bases to take over as well as growing your industrial base back home. Cryptic Comet spent alot of time making the game feel as ‘desperate’ as possible. Resources never seem to come fast enough and you always seem to be scratching and clawing for every inch of territory. This is captured brilliantly and is totally inline with AE’s post apocalyptic story.
Once your empire has grown a bit and the real fighting begins, combat is broken down into initiative rolls followed by combat actions followed by more rolls to determine if the attack was successful or not. Like I said, there is a lot of ‘rolling’ dice in this game, but that goes back to the game’s tabletop roots.
The biggest problem in Armageddon Empires is its user interface. Unfortunately, due to restrictions with Macromedia Director in which the game was made, the player is forced to click several buttons all in different locations to get past all of the initiative rolling. Ideally, a single button could be clicked which would cause all of the rolling to occur in from of the player’s eyes and then immediately jump him or her back into the game.
Graphics: AE does not feature ‘spectacular’ 3d graphics or HDR lighting or anything like that. AE features drawings. Thats right, 2d artwork, the kind your daddy had on his IBM-compatible computer games growing up. They are crisp, detailed, and very well rendered.
Score: AE’s score is well done and definitely adds to the game’s feeling of despair.
Sound: Sound effects in AE are minimalistic but functional.
Conclusion: Cryptic Comet brilliantly captures the table top war game in Armageddon Empires. Aside from a sometimes frustrating user interface, the game will provide hours upon hours of play. In a world of multi-million dollar video game productions to take advantage of the latest graphics engines, it is wonderful to see that good gameplay wins out over flash any day of the week.
Savage 2 is a multiplayer game where two teams, one from the Human faction and the other from the Beast faction, fight it out in a struggle to destroy the other’s base while at the same time expanding their own. This concept is familiar to anyone who has ever played a real-time strategy game before. In Savage 2, you can command your units as the force commander through a top-down interface. The only difference is that the Builder unit you select and give orders to deploy a structure to…is a real playing character. Thats right, Savage 2 is a shooter/action game inside of a real-time strategy shell.
Jumping into a game of Savage 2, you will find the option to join either the Human or Beast team. Each side has their assortment of character classes to play, with each class having a melee mode and a ranged mode, in addition to any special skills the unit might have. After selecting your side, you will be given the option to join a squad on that team – or even lead a squad if you are experience enough. Now that you are on a squad, it is time to enter the game.
Your commander can view the battlefield from a top-down RTS view when inside one of your side’s lairs. From there the commander will select any players or squads to carryout any tasks desired. There is nothing quite like telling one of your builder units in an RTS to build a structure somewhere, then watching that unit completely disobey orders and build something else at another location. This can be an issue in Savage 2, which will in turn garner the disobeyer a good chat-flogging or even getting booted from the server, so that works as a good system of checks and balances.
Playing as a non-commanding unit in Savage 2 can be a varied experience in terms of what is expected of you. There are a set number of classes to choose from on each side, and some have to be unlocked by your side having built or captured certain structures. Each unit has a melee mode and a ranged weapon mode in addition to special class abilities which can be anything from shape shifting to taming pets. Human unit’s ranged ability can be upgraded when their side builds an Armory. There are even siege units, such as battering rams and ballistas, which can be taken as a class when your base upgrades enough. These siege units are critically important in taking down a well-defended enemy base.
The melee combat system is well-handled and provides an additional level of sophistication you usually don’t see anywhere but fighting games. There are three types of melee move, the first of which being a ‘basic’ attack. Then there is a ‘blocking’ move which will shield you from the basic attack move. To counter blocking, you can use an ‘interrupt’ move which will stun a blocking opponent, leaving him or her open for an attack move or offensive ability. This level of tactics can sometimes degrade into button-mashing when the Bantha pudu hits the fan, leaving the frenzied player open to the onslaught of a thinking opponent which can easily waste them. I was surprised how many enemy players would seemingly ‘freak-out’ while fighting me and start spamming their attack buttons. I would be able to keep blocking their attacks until a moment when I has a break to cut out from behind my shield and take a slice out of them.
The graphics of Savage 2 are not the best on the market right now by any means, however, they are colorful and of quality production. In game audio is okay, with nothing to really make that aspect of the experience standout. Savage 2’s musical score is nice, having a very ‘epic fantasy’ feel to it which helps set the mood of your matches.
Currently, only the ‘Conquer’ gameplay mode is available, but S2 Games has said they are planning to release more game types in the future. Savage 2 has no subscription system, but instead a one-time fee for life of $29.95. Matches are recorded and can be reviewed back at any time on the Savage 2 website, which is host to a very impressive user-statistics tracking system.
Conclusion:
Savage 2 is a fun RTS/Shooter hybrid that manages to combine both aspects into a very cohesive system. The game can be a bit daunting to new players though and with so much going on, even experienced gamers can feel overwhelmed sometimes.
A trailer has been released for the upcoming Faith and a .45, an atmospheric shooter featuring a heavy focus on characters, co-operative gameplay, ‘road movie’ storytelling, and cinematic aesthetics. Faith and a .45 is being developed by Denmark-based Deadline Games.
Official Trailer:
German developer Black Lion Studios has announced an advanced third-person shooter called Shadow Harvest, for the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. No word yet on a PS3 release. Using gameplay similar to the current ‘two-people vs the world’ seen in Kane & Lynch and Army of Two, Shadow Harvest will have you bounce between the two main characters in order to complete mission objectives. Mastering both of their abilities will be crucial and necessary.
Official Release:
Shadow Harvest* is a highly immersive 3rd-person tactical action game set in the year 2025 on various current and future points of conflict around the globe. The game is in development for PC and XBOX 360. Featuring dual character control, amazingly realistic graphics and a refreshingly different storyline, Shadow Harvest is a completely new interpretation of the tactical-action genre. Being an ISA* agent, the first character, Myra Lee, has a background in espionage and stealth operations, while the other character, Aron Alvarez, is a hard-boiled close combat specialist of US Army’s Delta Force. Both characters are deployed as elite black-ops agents on various hot spots worldwide and behind enemy lines to cooperatively complete covert operations.
Sudoku fans, rejoice, for your dreams of playing the popular logic game on your Xbox 360 are about to come true. Scheduled for a second quarter release, Merscom’s Sudoku promises ‘innovative competitive and cooperative play’. It should be interesting to see how they add the multiplayer aspect to the usually solitary game.
CEO of Merscom, Kirk Owen, had this to say, ‘We are really excited about the release of Buku Sudoku, as it takes the proven and popular gameplay of Sudoku to a new level.’
Official Release:
January 31, 2008 – Merscom announced it will be publishing this Spring Buku Sudoku, the first Sudoku game for the Xbox LIVE Arcade system. The first, and only, Sudoku title for the Xbox LIVE Arcade, Buku Sudoku brings the worldwide Sudoku phenomenon to the Xbox LIVE Arcade while adding innovative competitive and cooperative play features.
According to PC World, Acer has purchased 75% control in Packard Bell. According to analysts, this move was primarily to stop Lenovo from doing the same, thus gaining entry into the European market.
Packard Bell ‘vanished’ from the US market in 2000, but has enjoyed continued success in Europe as Packard Bell Europe.
Ah yes…I do recall my first non-apple-compatible PC was a Packard Bell 486 sx-25. That is ’25’ as in megahertz. That was one cherry machine.
