Dawnguard PC info coming soon

Bethesda VP of marketing Pete Hines had us a little bit worried when he said last week that Bethesda “have not announced Dawnguard for any other platform.” Follow up messages suggested that the tweet was designed to diffuse expectations of an imminent Dawnguard release on PC and PS3, but it was all a bit vague.
This post on Blue’s News suggests that the situation will be resolved shortly. In a response to a twitter question asking if Dawnguard has been cancelled for PC, Hines reiterated that “nothing has been said/announced about it,” but added that “we should have info later this week.”
“Just sit tight,” he tweets in response to another Dawnguard PC cancellation query. “We’ll have info soon.”
Dawnguard’s been out for a month on the Xbox.Stay tuned for news of this release.by tom senior

Capcom brought back zombies for Resident Evil 6

Capcom is returning to regular old zombies.
"We brought zombies back because they’re popular," executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi, speaking to Siliconera. "Everyone loves ‘em, that’s why we brought them back.... We tried to respond to the requests and put them in this game. We tweaked them a bit so they aren’t the same zombies you would expect."
The zombies in Resident Evil 6 slowly shamble, but if they spot you or you get too close, they'll dash forward.
"We tried to make this as instantaneous as possible," said producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi. "Some of them will leap out at you. For the most part, they are zombies, but they have a bursts of energy here and there that give them a little extra oomph."
That "oomph" works for players, too. Youcan roll or slide out of the way of enemies or close the distance faster between you and a zombie horde.
The zombies in RE6 can use weapons, but not because of some new intelligence.
"It’s not that they are purposely using weapons," said Hirabayashi. "It’s in the back of their mind because they used to use weapons before they became zombies.by stephanie carmichael

EA Losing NCAA Exclusive Rights

Should a proposed settlement to a lawsuit against Electronic Arts be approved, the publisher would no longer be the only one allowed to create games using the NCAA license for at least a five-year period. This will come as welcome news to those hoping to see another developer get a crack at making a college football game, something this settlement would make into a real possibility. At the same time, this doesn't ensure that future iterations of EA Sports' NCAA Football will suddenly be faced with any serious competition.
A lawsuit first filed on June 5, 2008 has morphed into a class action suit that now has a settlement awaiting court approval. EA is accused of violating antitrust laws with its exclusive agreements with the National Football League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Arena Football League which made it the only company with the right to create games using these respective licenses.This also included the matter of price fixing, as EA allegedly forced a premium upon consumers with the Madden series following its acquisition of the NFL's exclusive rights, a move which came on the heels of competitor ESPN NFL 2K5 being sold for $19.99 (rather than $49.99).
This settlement would have no impact on EA's arrangement with the NFL -- an agreement that was extended last year, possibly as a result of the looming lockout, to run through 2013. It would, however, see those who bought certain EA sports football titles in the United States during the period of January 1, 2005 through June 21, 2012 receive a cash payment (up to a total of $54.32 for 'Sixth Generation Titles,' referring to those for Xbox, PS2, PC, or GameCube, or up to $15.60 for 'Seventh Generation Titles' for 360, PS3, or Wii). More notably, in addition to not seeking out further exclusive trademark licenses with the AFL or Collegiate Licensing Company, EA would not be allowed to go after another exclusive rights arrangement with the NCAA until five years had passed following the expiration of its current deal in 2014.
That would, of course, open the door for a rival company to come out with their own college football game to compete with the NCAA Football series. There are undoubtedly those who would welcome such a thing with open arms, if only to escape from the clutches of EA Sports. Those people would be well-served to manage their expectations, though.
I was among those excited to see 2K Sports attempt to compete with EA and its exclusive NFL rights in 2007 with All-Pro Football 2K8, the first football game from Visual Concepts since 2004's NFL 2K5. 2K5 was and still is regarded as one of, if not the best football sims of all time, so for its developer to be back in the game and working on a football title was great news. When All-Pro came along, it was lacking in some regards -- it played plenty fine,but its AI was weak, it didn't look particularly good, and it had a limited number of game modes. Likewise, Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360 featured a lack of game modes as EA Tiburon worked to adjust to the realities of high-definition game development.

Given those struggles, and the foundation on which both had to build, it's hard to imagine a developer new to the genre coming in with a game superior to NCAA Football right away. For as much as NCAA Football is, like Madden, derided for failing to innovate enough on an annual basis -- this is a common complaint about NCAA Football 13 -- that doesn't change the fact that NCAA Football 13 is a good game. It would take more than a year or two to truly become competitive with the firmly entrenched EA Sports offering, and with the proposed settlement's ban on an exclusivity arrangement lasting only five years, a prospective publisher may not be interested in the significant, long-term investment needed to build a competitive college football franchise when EA could gobble the NCAA rights back up before the decade is over.
Despite this, I do hope at least one company -- 2K Sports seems like the obvious one, given its history with football games and its continued inability to develop games using the NFL license -- decides to give EA Sports some competition. It would be challenging to compete initially, but if the NCAA license is available there's no reason that success could not eventually be achieved. The license may not be as important as, say, the NFL's is to NFL simulation games, what with the NCAA games lacking real-life player names, but it is still the critical element in being able to compete in the marketplace. And with the impending launch of next-generation hardware, this five-ye
ar period after the NCAA deal lapses might be the perfect opportunity to come in with a new game.
Any reason for EA to feel pressure to innovate would be good news for gamers. As things currently stand, a new game comes out each year for $60 and may or may not bring with it enough new content to justify that cost. With so many players buying the latest release every year regardless of what changes it introduces, the online community for each game dries up before long, leaving those averse to buying the newest iteration just because without much competition beyond what the game's AI and local multiplayer can offer. And with EA having a habit of shutting down the online servers for its older titles, it's all but assured that those looking to enjoy some online college football action have no choice but to buy a new NCAA Football title at least every few years.

While it might not guarantee anything, if NCAA Football were faced with a competitor like what NFL 2K was to Madden in the early 2000s, it would increase the odds of seeing real innovation from EA Tiburon with each and every release.Alternatively, a competitor could choose to compete with the more established NCAA series by being priced lower -- NFL 2K5 is highly regarded in its own right, but it was also sold at launch for the mind-blowingly low price $19.99. If a publisher were to try a similar strategy with a competent college football game, EA would need to either strive to justify the premium price tag of its own games or do what it did at the time and drop the price of its games. Either way, consumers would greatly benefit.by chris perrira

Nintendo continues to dominate portable console gaming

Nintendo announced  that sales of its 3DS portable gaming console surpassed 5 million units in the United States, a 500,000 device increase from March. The gaming company, which is attempting to recover from an annual loss, in June sold more than 155,000 3DS consoles, more than 150,000 original DS handhelds and almost 95,000 Wii consoles, Bloomberg reported. For the second consecutive month, Nintendo controlled 75% of portable-hardware sales. The company is predicting a 37% sales jump with the introduction of the 3DS XL, a new handheld that features a 90% larger viewing area, for $199 on August 19th. Nintendo will also launch its next-generation Wii U console ahead of the holidays, and both devices are expected to help the company return to profit this fiscal year.by dan graziano

Battlefield 4 beta starts Autumn 2013

Electronic Arts confirmed Battlefield 4, and said a beta for the new shooter will commence during fall 2013 for unspecified platforms. Gamers can get access to the trial period by preordering this October's Medal of Honor Warfighter. EA said more details regarding Battlefield 4 and its beta will be announced at a later date.

Speculation concerning Battlefield 4 was sparked over the weekend, when EA's Origin webstore posted, and subsequently removed, promotional material for the game.
 The official Battlefield website has been updated with a message from EA on Battlefield 4. The statement says the company has nothing further to share on Battlefield 4 at present, and talked up Battlefield 3 as a game still in its early stages.
"Even with billions of bullets fired and millions of games played, we know the Battlefield 3 story is still just the beginning," reads a line from the statement.
The existence of Battlefield 4 comes as little surprise. Battlefield 3 arrived  to a warm critical reception and shipments of 15 million units. Additionally, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said in November "there is going to be a Battlefield 4." by eddie makuch
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Best FPS Must Play Shooters

Doom II

 

id Software has Made some incredible games over its twenty-plus years of existence. But in tense atmosphere, none made the splash that Doom II did in 1994. Following up on its 1993 predecessor, as well as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom II delivered a tense experience that even its follow up couldn't capture with the same level of craftsmanship.

With the sequel, the Space Marine hero returns back to Earth to discover that the demonic forces he fought in the first game has invaded. It's loaded with more enemies to fight and more tension.

 

 Killzone 3

 

 Looking for a shooter that takes you through beautiful war-torn environments, pits you against threatening, intelligent enemies, and is an action-packed roller coaster ride from beginning to end, Killzone 3 will definitely keep you satisfied. Killzone 3's campaign breaks ups the regular shooter mediocrity by throwing in monstrous set-pieces, fast-paced vehicle segments, and even a few stealth missions.
All the pieces culminate to form a cohesive campaign that will keep you enthralled the whole way through. There aren't nearly enough games that will let you fly around in machine gun armed jetpacks or pilot heavily armored Helghast stomping mechs

Metroid Prime

When Metroid Prime was released another lesson was learned. No one expected the franchise to make such an amazing full-on first person shooter. It just felt like an unnatural change - like when Samus miraculously morphs into a ball. How wrong we were.
Metroid Prime destroys expectations. Not only does viewing Samus's world from inside her helmet's visor completely immerse you as the Mother Brain blasting bounty hunter, it give you unequaled precision for blasting space pirates and an up-close and personal look when scanning the environment for clues. Prime not only proved the franchise could live on as an FPS, but the engrossing story, mystical alien environments, and challenging combat still make it one of the best shooters gamers can get their hands on.

BioShock

studios can still give players a unique experience and tell amazing stories. From the moment you step into the art-deco, underwater metropolis to the first Big Daddy you meet to the mind-blowing twist ending, the game entrances players with its creepy atmosphere and excellent storytelling. Speaking of Big Daddy, Bioshock created one of the most menacing and memorable enemies in gaming history. And no matter how powerful the player got, Big Daddies were still challenging and pants-wetting scary.
Not only does the games powers system  provide players with new and interesting ways to defeat enemies, but also tools to progress through the game. And the RPG elements not only allow for a variety of play styles but also let players switch up their customizations without punishing them for experimenting with different Plasmids. What really puts Bioshock above other FPS’s is its creativity – from the superb storytelling, to eerie atmosphere, to the memorable characters. Bioshock is an experience we won’t soon forget.by gamesradarstaff


 

game collection sells for $1.23 million on eBay

French video game collector has sold a collection of more than 7,000 video games for $1.23 million on eBay.

"I perfected some full sets by getting every title of them factory sealed, just for the challenge of it," Andre, 32, who did not disclose his full name, told the Los Angeles Times. "Some titles are extremely hard to come by brand new when they're 25 years old. Now that the mission is complete, maybe it's time to move on."

300,000 people have viewed the eBay auction page, which includes photos of the gaming sets and an exhaustive listing of all 7,000 titles.

The collection of 22 individual sets includes every title from a number of Nintendo gaming systems, every Sega console game ever produced and all of the games for the lesser-known NEC gaming systems.

"What was important was the completion of each full set, every game of all those systems, all complete in box with instructions, or even brand new factory sealed," Andre said.

And as Yahoo! Games noted yesterday, the winning bidder, who is from Canada, will have to pay more than $1,200 in shipping costs alone.

Even though Andre says it's time to move on, he says not to worry that he will be left without any video game options, telling the L.A. Times that he still has thousands of other games in his collection.

He even has a contingency plan in case the winning bidder does not come through with his payment.

"If the payment doesn't come, I'll probably list [it] again on eBay, or on Japanese auction [sites], but maybe I'll split it by selling each [full set] separately,""We'll see in time."by eric pfeiffer

No short-term plans to add game-streaming to Steam

Valve has revealed that it has no short-term plans to add game-streaming to Steam. Jason Holtman, Valve business development director revealed this at an industry conference Develop.

“Though “those [technologies] are really interesting to us, they’re not in our short-term plans,” he said, as reported by Gamespot.

Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker added: “We love cloud gaming and we think we do it already… you can think of it as just a way of using a back-end structure [for gaming].”
He mentioned that he places customer experience ahead of anything else.
“We’re not so excited by distribution. We’re excited by a change in customer experience… the exciting thing about Steam is that we can deliver new experiences, iterate on our games much faster.”
Tell us what you think in the comments section below.by kartik mudgal

Pre-Order COD Black Ops 2 and Get The NUKETOWN 2025 BONUS MAP

Pre-order now and get the Nuketown 2025 downloadable bonus map.
Small and simple, yet lending itself to a variety of playstyles, the original Nuketown became an instant fan-favorite in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
An arena-style map with unique art design, Nuketown promoted the type of fast-paced action that Call of Duty fans from around the world have come to love. Now re-imagined in a 60's depiction of the "Model Home of the Future", Nuketown 2025 is set to take that familiar close-quarters chaos into the future!

My Personal Video Unboxing & Review of the Asus Xonar Phoebus

'Rambo: The Video Game?

Rambo: The Video Game  at August's Gamescom expo with a playable version available on the show floor.

Publisher Reef Entertainment didnt uttered a peep about it since reaching a deal with rights holder StudioCanal back in August 2011.

Its June 6 announcement was similarly quiet, embellished only by a quote from Rambo: First Blood to extol John Rambo's fighting qualities.

Reef's most recent game was March 2012 puzzle title Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle for the Wii, DS, PlayStation 3 and Windows systems; before that, it was Sniper Elite for the Wii in 2010.

Rambo's already appeared in several video games down the years, from the 1980s' officially licensed Rambo, Rambo II and Rambo III to a wealth of spoofs and homages including those of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, World of Warcraft, Rocketbirds, Contra, Ikari Warriors, and Facebook political parody Hillary: First Blood.

This year's Gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany, runs August 15-19, coinciding with the cinematic debut of Rambo actor Sylvester Stallone's ensemble action sequel The Expendables 2.by afp relax news

Woman Goes To Jail For Using Fake Tokens

A Chinese woman was recently sentenced to 8 months in prison and fined 20000 RMB after being caught using fake game tokens at a  arcade.

Recently divorced 34-year-old Zhang Lili of Sanmenxian Zhejiang province China spent the better half of the last year playing arcade games at her local video game arcade. Each arcade token costs about 0.5 RMB (3 cents). Zhang was particularly enthralled with the digital fishing game, spending loads of tokens each sitting.

Zhang says she spent way too much money so when she heard about a website where she could buy custom game tokens for cheap, she "pounced" on the opportunity. Taking pictures of the tokens used at her local arcade, Zhang ordered over 30,000 tokens.

From May to October, she spent the most of her fake tokens. her usage of tokens caught the eye of the arcade owner. He discovered that there were way more tokens in his arcade than the amount that the arcade started with.

Zhang confessed to the crime and went to the local police station to turn herself in. According to the police Zhang spent over 20,000 of her funny tokens causing the arcade to lose over $1570.by eric jou

Metro Last Light

A direct sequel to the million-selling Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light builds upon the first-person shooting action of the original whilst simultaneously upgrading its already-stunning graphics engine to previously unseen sights.

Though early in development we can already confirm the inclusion of DirectX 11 effects, tessellation, stereoscopic NVIDIA 3D Vision support, advanced depth of field effects, dynamic physics effects powered by NVIDIA’s hardware-accelerated PhysX technology, advanced volumetric fog, and advanced simulated particle effects. And with plenty of time until the game’s 2013 release even more effects are bound to be added, though going by the stunning screenshots it’s hard to see how the game’s graphics could be  improved.

 the single-player campaign is set one year after the events of Metro 2033 and sees the various human groups at war with each other and the mutated beasts that control the streets of Moscow. Things are going from bad to worse, and now there’s a superweapon in play that could annihilate the last remnants of humanity once and for all. For further single-player story info check out the official live-action short film that bridges the gap between 2033 and Last Light.
by geforce.com

Games that already benefit from six cores CPUs

More Cores, More FPS

 

Since March 2010, there have been six-core-CPUs around. But which games benefit from hexacore-processors? PC Games hardware recaps old and current titles.

PCGH-Special: These Games Already Benefit from Six Cores [Source: view picture gallery]

Arcania - Gothic 4: Up to 30 per cent plus compared with Quadcore (Attention: in preview-version only - the release patch with improved multi-core-support coming soon!) [Source: view picture gallery]

Dead Rising 2: Up to 20 per cent plus compared with Quadcore   

Since March 2010 (Intel Core i7-980X) or June 2010 (AMD Phenom II X6 1055T and 1090T) respectively, there have been early desktop processors that carry six CPU-cores. Processors with eight or even twelve cores are in progress. What gamers might ask is: What's the gain of these additional cores?

In order to be able to make presentable statements, we tested 24 games allowing for their ability to handle multi-core. A remarkable thing to say is that a great number of games already benefits from six cores. When we think back, the transisiton from two to four cores was slower. Back then, it took the games almost one year to profit by additional cores.

Among other titles, we tested:

• Arcania - Gothic 4 (Preview-Version)
• Civilization 5
• Dead Rising 2
• Dragon Age (v1.04)
• F1 2010
• Lost Planet 2
• RUSE

Check the gallery for the results.

Things You Need To Know About The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online is a hardcore fantasy MMORPG for PC and Mac, so if you’re not into that sort of game you probably ought to steer clear of this one when it comes out next year. But if you’re a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, I’m filing this report from the E3 show floor to tell you that you ought to be interested in how Zenimax Studios is designeding The Elder Scrolls Online. Here’s a few reasons why:

Your Favorite Locations Are In This Game: If you’ve ever played an Elder Scrolls game before, you probably have a  spot for some iconic swath of Tamriel’s geography. It sounds silly, but it’s true; whether you’re exploring the snowy mountain ranges of Skyrim or the ash-covered wastes of Morrowind, the Elder Scrolls games are defined by the memorable worlds they allow you to explore. The developers at Zenimax Online are keenly aware of this, and they made a point of showing off well-known landmarks from every Elder Scrolls game as they exist in The Elder Scrolls Online.

During our demo we saw Morrowind’s Red Mountain, the Redguard capital of Hammerfell, ancient Dwemer fortresses and mysterious Altmeri ruins. The game looked gorgeous, and anyone with fond memories of exploring Tamriel in a previous Elder Scrolls game can expect to get kicked square in their sense of nostalgia by The Elder Scrolls Online’s vast virtual world.

A Daedric Prince Steals Your Soul: No matter what kind of character you create, your personal story begins when the Daedric Prince Molag Bal steals your soul. This curses you with immortality until you get it back, which handily explains why players in The Elder Scrolls Online can constantly be cut down in combat only to rise again for another round. It’s sort of like the opening to Planescape: Torment, except this time the game might not end when you earn your mortality back.

Necromancy is actually a common problem in The Elder Scrolls Online; not only are there potentially millions of players running around as soulless vagabonds, the kings of Cyrodiil have actually made a pact with Molag Bal to raise undead armies with which to conquer their enemies.

Real-Time Combat In An MMO: Get ready to hold down keys in order to charge up your hammer swings or keep your shield up. Character in The Elder Scrolls Online have a Stamina meter which can be depleted in order to fight defensively or charge up attacks for more damage, and using these abilities deftly in combat will net you Finesse points.

While we don’t yet fully understand how these Finesse points will work, a Bethesda rep suggested that players who earn enough Finesse points will be rewarded with extra treasure. During our demo we witnessed a character receiving extra loot after a battle, and it seems like a smart way to reward skilled players with better items and gear.

Characters Have a Voice: At least, the most important ones do. During our E3 demo we witnessed major NPCs speaking their dialogue aloud, though the player character remained silent. We don’t know yet whether all dialogue in the game will be spoken, but the most important figures in the game should have recognizable voice actors.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an MMORPG with voice acting, but it’s a nice feature that makes the game feel more vibrant and alive. Previous Elder Scrolls games have featured well-known voice actors  playing characters with pivotal roles, and hopefully The Elder Scrolls Online will be no exception.



Open Player vs. Player Combat With Persistent Consequences: When your Elder Scrolls Online character gains enough experience he should be able to take part in massive battles against other players to determine which player faction controls certain towns and territories. If you choose to take part in these battles you’ll engage in large-scale battles  to conquer cities, siege castles and even crown a member of your faction as King of Cyrodiil. Of course, even if you win your faction will have to try and hold these titles, towns and fortresses against the other factions.

If this sounds familiar, that’s because we saw a very similar faction vs. faction PVP system in Dark Age of Camelot, an older MMO that many of the current Zenimax Online employees previously worked on. Dark Age of Camelot was critically acclaimed for it’s tri-faction PVP battles, and it looks like The Elder Scrolls Online will be a worthy successor for PC and Mac gamers seeking a vast, persistent fantasy world that changes in response to it’s players.by alex wawro

Wii U Is a Great Console

The extra hands-on time has clarified what Nintendo is trying to do with the Wii U -- where it succeeds and where it needs work. While other consoles targeted serious gamers first before broadening their reach to "home entertainment," Nintendo went right for the family room with the Wii in 2006, and clearly hopes to keep it there with the newest console. The question is, what games will compel people to buy it?

The Wii U tablet controller, known as the GamePad, was more refined and comfortable to use than I originally imagined. Nintendo had adjusted the form factor -- it is light and comfortable to hold. The real test will be asking players to hold one for multiple hours at a time, as I feel the controller's bulkiness will still get in the way.

The bottom line is, you can't play the same old games on this controller. That's not a bad thing; it pushes the industry, and Nintendo will try to pick up the slack with the "Pro" controller. But trying to graft play experiences onto it can feel unnatural, just like gestures for the Wii became more irksome for certain games.

The GamePad Isn't for All Games

ZombiU is a perfect example of where the controller can feel bulky and unnatural. I was dropped into a level where I had to scan the area for weapons. This requires lifting the tablet and pointing it at the TV like a scanner. Once you've located the crate, you find a crossbow which also requires you to point the GamePad at the screen to use. The reticle appears on your tablet -- aim it at zombies and fire. Nothing about this is natural. This isn't how anyone would imagine holding a crossbow, and instead of making the game feel immersive, it's gimmicky.

This could just be Ubisoft's fault. The publisher's Wii launch title Red Steel was similarly intended to showcase the potential of motion controls for "mature" gamers, but was underwhelming.

There are plenty of great ways to appreciate the GamePad. It adds an extra dimension of play to games like New Super Mario Bros. U, where one player can add powerups and blocks to help (or troll) the others on a shared screen. In Scribblenauts Unlimited, it functions as an input device for players to type in words. In Pikmin 3, the GamePad extends the map functionality in creative ways that trigger you to explore.

All of these are simple and elegant functions, but none of them are necessary for gameplay. The second screen almost reminds me of the one on the Nintendo DS; it adds some value, but isn't always utilized in compelling ways. What I saw, aside from the Nintendo Land minigames, didn't make the second screen of the GamePad a must-have tool, but rather a small diversion.

What the Wii U Needs: Great Games

Nintendo Land, the game that will come bundled with the system, takes players through several Nintendo franchise-themed minigames, but doesn't appear to have the magnetism of Wii Sports. Wii Sports was the "must-have" game that demonstrated why motion controls were fun -- it alone was the reason many purchased the system in the first place.

From what I've played so far, the Wii U doesn't have a killer game. The new Mario and Wii Fit titles are great, but not enough to get most people to upgrade. It has video chat and social networks, which we already have elsewhere. It has beautiful third-party titles that are already available on other consoles or will be at the same time.

This isn't bad news, yet. Plenty of Nintendo consoles didn't pick up steam until one particular game changed the demand. For the Nintendo 64, it was GoldenEye. For the Sony PlayStation, it was Final Fantasy VII. For beautiful hardware like the Wii U to work, it needs solid games behind it, whether you are appealing to the hardcore or casual fans. Almost all of the games I played on the Wii U were fun, but none made me want to get in line at 5 a.m. on release day.

I do have faith in Nintendo, however. It has time before the holiday release, and we could see the killer game appear in 2013 -- one that will make the console worth clamoring for.

This story originally published on Mashable .

Final Fantasy XIII-3

 Interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu, FFXIII and XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama dropped some hints that we may soon be adventuring with Lightning once more.

“

The [FFXIII-2] Lightning download content had an ending that left a feeling mystery and hope. The day when the meaning of this will come to light is not too far off.

When asked if whether Final Fantasy XIII would be a focus at the the upcoming Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event, he replied, "The [FFXIII-2] Lightning download content had an ending that left a feeling mystery and hope. The day when the meaning of this will come to light is not too far off."
Speculation about the possibility of a third instalment in Lightning's story has been rife since Final Fantasy XIII-2 ended with the words "to be continued", but this was later suggested to refer to DLC. Now though it seems the original idea could be closer to the mark.
Thankfully we won't have to wait too long to find out; the anniversary event mentioned by Toriyama is scheduled to take place at an art gallery in Shibuya from August 31.
Despite the realms of possibility this opens up, there are some drawbacks. Firstly, while it was never likely the team were going to start work on a Final Fantasy VII remake anytime soon, this pretty much confirms it isn't a priority.
Secondly, Toriyama had some ominous comments for anyone waiting for the HD remake of Final Fantasy X. It seems a release date is still nowhere near being set,by luke karmali

Ouya:Android game console designed by Yves Behar

Ouya has recruited the talents of Yves Behar to build a $99 Android game console that you can connect to a TV, with a high-concept developer ecosystem that's as free as can be. Any developer will be able to publish games, claims the listing, and all games will be free to play. Even the underlying hardware is "built to be hacked" — every customer who buys a retail box will get a dev kit in the bargain, the site claims.
As we alluded to earlier, though, it's not just Jawbone Jambox and One Laptop Per Child designer Yves Behar who's on board. The project's advisors also include Ed Fries of Xbox fame, Amol Sarva of Peek, Peter Pham of Color, and counts Julie Uhrman of IGN as its founder and CEO. There's also a gentleman named Muffi Ghadiali, who appears to be leaving Amazon's Lab126 where he helped ship Kindle. At $99, the Ouya would be playing in the same space as Google TV boxes like Vizio's Co-Star, but we're eager to see what games Ouya might attract. We're on the lookout for more details and hope to have them for you soon.by sean hollister

Video Game Sale: Up to 82% off Select PC Games

Deal Description: Amazon Video Game Sale: Up to 82% off Select PC Games

Amazon is offering PC downloadable games up to 82% off during their Best Deals of July Event. All games below are at the lowest prices we could find. Key deals include:

• Battlefield 2 Complete Collection $5
• Bioshock Dual Pack $7.49
• Borderlands Game of the Year Edition $7.49
• Plentiful Paradox Package $12.49
• The Darkness II $12.49
• Syndicate $14.99
• Call of Duty: Black Ops $19.99
• 2K Shooter Pack (3 games) $19.99
• Max Payne 3 $29.99
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 $29.99
• Battlefield 3 $35.99

Most Overclocked Graphics Cards Look Like a Sci-Fi Movie Set

 PC wizard Hazzan has broken the world record for...overclocking PC graphics cards. How do you even measure such a thing? The scene uses the scores handed out by benchmark tool 3DMark 11, and Hazzan's 4-way SLI GTX 680 setup registered a score of P33190, which beat the previous mark by 39 points.
To reach the score, as you can see in the pic above, Hazzan had to do what a lot of these serious guys have to do: namely, stand over his PC with an open bottle of liquid nitrogen and keep pouring some in every few minutes so the entire rig doesn't burst into flames.
According to EXP, his entire rig reads as follows:

The platform included Core i7-3930K processor (oc'ed to 5784MHz), 8GB quad-channel GSkill DDR3 memory (oc'ed to 2480MHz), Antec High Current Pro 1300W power supply, ASUS Rampage IV Extreme mobo and ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II graphics card，the CPU and graphics adopted liquid nitrogen cooling.by luke plunkett

Technical Look At Max Payne

For what I believe is the first time ever, this is not the case here. While we're not seeing Battlefield 3-esque graphics, Rockstar has done well to make sure that the game looks as good as can be on the PC. The environments are highly detailed, and the character models are some of the best we've seen (thanks in part to L.A. Noire, I'm sure).
Max Payne 3 features support for DirectX 11, a fact NVIDIA helped promote long before its PC launch. Obviously, just because a game supports DX11 doesn't mean the differences over DX9 will be like night / day, but for those wanting to take advantage of tessellation, a DX11-compatible graphics card is required.

Tessellation

For this game, Rockstar implements Phong Tessellation to help smooth out rough edges on people and vehicles. The idea is that instead of the curvature of a character's head having obvious rough edges, it'd be smoothed out with the help of phong shading.
As we discovered, however, the effect that this tessellation technique has in-game is minimal at best. Here's a comparison shot:

In all of our tests, we found that tessellation did little more than "bulk up" character clothing - something that's almost non-distinguishable unless two images are looked at side-by-side. In talking to NVIDIA about this, we were told that the biggest differences would be seen in close-ups of characters, such as around their ears or head. However, getting close enough to a character to see a difference like this is easier said than done. There's no camera zoom in the game, so where the differences stand to be seen are in cutscenes.
For a better example, I recommend downloading this archive (400 KB, JPG) and view the included before and after images full-screen. When flicking between them, the differences with tessellation on are noticeable, but are not necessarily "better". In some cases, I'd say tessellation makes characters look even worse. There are exceptions, however. In these shots, Max's hands look far more natural with tessellation turned on. It's the rest that's debatable.

FXAA vs. MSAA

Since the launch of its Kepler architecture, NVIDIA has been pushing the use of FXAA due to its performance advantage over MSAA. While MSAA applies in real-time, FXAA acts as a post-processor, filtering the image just once (as opposed to 4xMSAA, which renders 4x the resolution and then downscales). This drastically reduces that amount of memory required, and the end-result is top-rate.
To better see the differences in the example below, I recommend clicking on the image to view it at native resolution. Without anti-aliasing, jaggies are evident around the door frame, the broken wall and woodwork in the middle. With 'Very High' FXAA applied (there is less than a 1% performance hit between the lowest and highest FXAA levels on a GTX 580), most of the edges in the screen are smoothed without the introduction of some side-effect. Comparing the FXAA and 4xMSAA shots, both are almost identical. The nod goes to MSAA, however, as it managed to smooth out the perimeter of the wall a bit better.

Is that minor improvement worth a ~50% framerate hit? For most people, no. Some might argue that 48 FPS is suitable, but this was a simple scene, and the same setting would plummet some to about 25 FPS or less. I know this, because I went through the entire game with 4xMSAA enabled, not cluing in until I got down to testing. Even with FXAA enabled, some scenes will dip to 60 FPS, which is more than suitable.
On the following page, we'll cover both Ambient Occlusion and Image Quality.by rob williams