NVIDIA officially introduced it's Hybrid technology. Witht the GF8200A we tested earlier this week, the drivers wheren't even ready but still. These new platforms are the foundation for a new breed of PCs that deliver a richer visual experience while reducing energy consumption and costs, fan noise, and even heat. The new technology is available immediately with new NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI and GeForce 8 Series based motherboards.

The visual capabilities of typical PCs are driven by either integrated graphics on the motherboard or by higher performance, discrete graphics cards. Unfortunately, the most common integrated graphics chips lack the performance and features needed by many popular modern 3D applications, games, and movies. Discrete graphics cards deliver a far superior visual experience, but consume more energy.

According to the press release, Hybrid SLI-enabled motherboards eliminate this problem by putting a GeForce GPU directly on the motherboard. This GeForce GPU has better DirectX compatibility and HD movie playback capability than the most common integrated graphics chips found in today's PCs, but consumes less energy than a discrete graphics card.

Designed for PC enthusiasts and hard-core gamers, the HybridPower feature completely powers down the discrete graphics cards and switches graphics processing to the motherboard GPU in applications where major 3D horsepower is not required, such as e-mail and Web surfing. Users will appreciate the lower energy consumption, quieter PC operation, and less heat. When additional 3D horsepower is needed, it can be manually transitioned back to discrete graphics cards using HybridPower technology, which are then powered up and ready to rock the 3D world. Hybrid SLI technology allows to save on energy costs over the life of the PC for high-end, enthusiast-class PCs, and deliver additional graphics performance for more mainstream desktops via these two features.

For mainstream users, a Hybrid SLI technology feature called GeForce Boost allows the user to add an additional graphics card for even more graphics horsepower. By combining the performance of the motherboard GPU and graphics card discrete GPUs, GeForce Boost increases overall graphics performance up to 50% for today

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Check this trailer out. Looks pretty good. This is the first ever gameplay footage of Mirror's Edge (PC PS3, Xbox 360), the upcoming first-person action-adventure game that is currently in development at Digital Illusions CE. Presented from a first-person perspective, the cinematic opened with Faith running, arms akimbo, before jumping on and climbing up a chain-link fence, sliding under a set of low steel pipes and performing a barrel roll as she landed.

It's not unlike trying to imagine Assassin's Creed from a totally different point of view. Along the way, she slid down pipes, ran sideways along building walls to bridge gaps, and used what looked like power cables as a makeshift zip line. 
 

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Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today launched a new line of MasterDrive solid state drives (SSDs) that are 100% interchangeable with hard disk drives (HDDs), but are faster, lighter, use less power and are far more rugged and reliable.

MasterDrive SSDs use NAND Flash rather than magnetic platters as the storage medium, giving them many advantages over HDDs. These drives have no moving parts, and therefore are completely silent, lighter weight and more reliable than HDDs. Moreover, they consume a fraction of the power of HDDs, meaning they produce less heat and offer longer battery life in mobile computing. MasterDrive SSDs use a SATA-II (3Gbps) interface to support high bandwidth and broad compatibility with motherboards, and have a standard 2.5-inch form factor. Proprietary wear-leveling algorithms extend the life of these SSDs.

MasterDrive MX	Description	MSRP
FTM20GK25H	120GB MLC 120/40 MB/sec	$699
FTM60GK25H	60GB MLC 120/40 MB/sec	$449
FTM30GK25H	30GB MLC 120/40 MB/sec	$299
MasterDrive DX	Description	MSRP
FTD60GK25H	60GB SLC 120/70 MB/sec	$1299
FTD30GK25H	30GB SLC 120/70 MB/sec	$699

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Creating a little hype surely brings in dough. Take-Two Interactive Software said today that Grand Theft Auto IV has surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value. Released on Tuesday, April 29th, Grand Theft Auto IV, the critically acclaimed video game, has sold through to consumers approximately 6 million units globally with an estimated retail value of more than $500 million in the first week. Grand Theft Auto IV sold approximately 3.6 million units on its opening day with a retail value of approximately $310 million globally.

"We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player's experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

"Rockstar's goal is to make each new title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it, and Grand Theft Auto IV is a smashing success on that score. Grand Theft Auto IV makes full use of the power of next generation technology, and offers players an experience unique in the interactive entertainment medium. This game sets a new standard in the industry, with critics hailing it as both an artistic and technological masterpiece," said Ben Feder, Take-Two's Chief Executive Officer.

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As posted on the ID Software website. Production has begun on DOOM 4, the next journey into the legendary DOOM universe. We are expanding our internal team and are currently hiring to work on this highly anticipated title.

"DOOM is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software.  "It's critical for id Software to have the best creative minds in-house to develop games that meet the standards synonymous with our titles."

The DOOM franchise is one of the most recognizable and important in gaming history, having been named "one of the ten most influential games of the decade" by PC Gamer and "the #1 game of all time" by GameSpy.  DOOM 4 will join the award-winning series which has consistently topped sales charts throughout the world.

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In a direct answer to Intel's Nehalem AMD is showing some teeth as well. AMD currently making the preparations for a worth-mentioning Nehalem competitor. The chip manufacturer's upcoming 45-nanometer chips in the Deneb and Propus families will undergo a significant micro-architecture redesign, also known as K10.5 Rev. D.

The D silicon stepping in the 45-nanometer process will be code-named Hydra and is alleged to be AMD's true response to Intel's Nehalem CPU micro-architecture. This silicon stepping will introduce an L2 cache level of 1MB per core, which means that the upcoming processors will enjoy twice as much cache memory over the existing K10.5 silicon.

More than that, the new micro-architecture will also bring the much-hyped High-K metal gate technology that has been jointly developed by AMD and IBM using 45nm SOI (silicon-over-insulator) cores. The first 45-nanometer SOI cores, however, will be introduced earlier, in both Deneb and Propus chips. Hydra will also bring a huge, 6 MB L3 cache pool that will be shared among all the processor's cores. The new chip is expected to hit the market in at least eight-core configurations, although the company is likely to introduce them as eight-core native designs, rather than the recently unveiled MCM (Multi Chip Module).

As far as the brute computing performance is concerned, it is estimated that Hydra processors will be able to deliver stock core frequencies of over 3 GHz.

It is currently unknown whether it will be as overclockable as Intel's counterparts, but this is highly unlikely to happen, given AMD's conservative stance when it comes to tweaking its chips. Intel took the same approach with the Nehalems, and rumor has it that only the Bloomfield-based high-end offerings will be ale to go beyond the default clock speed.

The Hydra chips will arrive on the market in mid-2009 or even later and in the meantime, Intel's Nehalems will be the only high-end alternative.

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Adware purveyors are using fake MP3 and MPG files on peer-to-peer networks to spread their wares. More than a half million computers have been infected by a Trojan spreading through bogus MP3 files on popular peer-to-peer networks in the past several days, according to researchers at McAfee
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CDV released a trailer of City Life 2008 Edition. City Life 2008 takes the city building genre into the 21st century with a powerful 3D engine and a variety of gameplay features. In the game, players take on the role of urban planner and real estate developer, creating a metropolitan paradise from dozens of beautifully rendered structures - including elaborately crafted villas and ultra-modern skyscrapers:

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Microsoft yesterday resumed the availability of Windows XP SP3 at its website. Earlier last week MS pulled the update from its public servers due to some compatibility issues; it delayed the general release of Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), due to a last-minute discovered incompatibility. The update, released to manufacturing two weeks ago, was expected to be generally available on April 29th and later in early Summer as an automatic update. Microsoft said it is now offering "hotfix" for the compatibility issues with its Dynamics Retail Management System, which it says should be installed first.

This third official XP service pack includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases as well as new functionality such as Network Access Protection (NAP), an update of Windows Product Activation, and security improvements such as improved black hole router detection (those that are silently discarding packets).

The update is available via the Windows Update as a 67MB or as a direct download.

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OCZ today premiered the world

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What a concidence, a release just days after the GC in leipzig. Anyway, Deep Silver today confirmed that it will be publishing the North American edition of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. The follow up to last year's hit S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl will be hitting store shelves all over the damn place on August 29th.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

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Noticed this one on ggmania, BioWare technical producer Derek French has said that the PC versions of both Mass Effect and Spore will make use of copy protection that will require online validation every ten days to continue working. According to French, Maxis' Spore will also make use of the same scheme: "[Electronic Arts] is ready for us and getting ready for Spore, which will use the same system."  French also noted that the online requirement will be clearly labeled on the games' packaging.

Mass Effect uses SecuROM and requires an online activation for the first time that you play it. Each copy of Mass Effect comes with a CD Key which is used for this activation and for registration here at the BioWare Community. Mass Effect does not require the DVD to be in the drive in order to play, it is only for installation. After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn't become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remaining in the 10 day window. If it can't contact the server before the 10 days are up, nothing bad happens and the game still runs. After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run.

Well, along with a lot of other people, I guess I won't be buying Mass Effect and Spore then.
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A new Far Cry 2 Intro Trailer just surfaced on the web. It offers three minutes of interview and gameplay footage from the Ubisoft Montreal developed action game sequel. Far Cry 2 will be released later this year for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. 
 

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Another new GeForce ForceWare driver download release today as NVIDIA issued GeForce ForceWare 175.16 drivers. Among the support is the new GeForce 9600 GSO.

Supports GeForce 6, 7, 8, and 9 series GPUs including these newly released GPUs:

• GeForce 9800 GX2
• GeForce 9800 GTX
• GeForce 9600 GT
• GeForce 9600 GSO
• GeForce 8300
• GeForce 8200/ nForce 730a
• GeForce 8100/nForce 720a

Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI

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New York City politicians were decidedly unhappy when they first found out Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City setting was a thinly veiled take on the Big Apple, but with a week to go before the game's release, the biggest gripe about the game is rising out of Chicago. The local Fox affiliate is reporting that the Chicago Transit Authority plans to pull an advertising campaign for the latest criminal action game from Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive.

The Fox report--available as a video clip on the station's Web site--begins by noting this past weekend was "an especially violent" one for Chicago, which left dozens of people shot and six dead.

"And what did we spot on CTA buses and platforms," anchor Andy Roesgen asked. "Advertisements for the unapologetically violent video game Grand Theft Auto."

Roesgen then recaps a 2004 stir over CTA ads for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the PlayStation 2. In that incident, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (whose game restriction legislation was declared unconstitutional, much to the expense of the state's taxpayers) criticized the CTA for accepting the $90,000 ad campaign, but the ads were set to come down anyway by the time the issue drew attention.

The Fox report cited a CTA representative as saying that transit authority president Ron Huberman had decided to pull the advertising campaign. Neither Take-Two Interactive nor the CTA had returned GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time.

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It never ceases to amaze me how much fun the more budget oriented products can be. NVIDIA recently released their GF8200 based mainboards. So why not grab a Phenom processor, some memory and the ECS GF8200A mainboard and see where we end up? And I'll tell you in advance ... for this kind of money, this little mainboard again is amazing for the price.

See, this mainboard comes with Hybrid graphics, (integrated GeForce 8200), VGA output, HDMI output, HD audio integrated, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI-Express 2.0, Serial ATA (RAID 0,1,10) DDR2 memory up-to 1066 MHz and all that for a price hovering at roughly 70 bucks! That's just electrifying. Say you want to build a HTPC capable of decoding 1080P Blu-Ray. Well, purchase this mainboard, slap some memory on it and get a budget processor. Because the integrated graphics core will handle the HDMI and even media VC-1/h.264 decoding for you (Blu-ray / HD-DVD). This is just a very cheap alternative. It will also handle six 3Gb/s SATA drives, 12 USB ports and Gigabit Ethernet.

Let's check it out:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/ecs-gf8200a-black-edition-mainboard-review/

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These guys make excellent coolers really. Noctua presented today its new premium class CPU cooler NH-C12P. Being equipped with 6 heat pipes and the award-winning NF-P12 120mm fan, the NH-C12P achieves excellent performance and outstanding quietness of operation. The down-facing c-type design allows for lower height and also provides additional cooling for motherboard components through two Airflow-Gaps.

"Given the trend towards powerful, HD ready multimedia systems and HTPCs in compact desktop cases, the demand for quiet high-end CPU coolers with lower height is growing and growing", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "Our new NH-C12P is a premium class quiet cooler that offers the same excellent level of performance as our much acclaimed NH-U12P at a height of only 114mm."

This is made possible by the use of 6 heat pipes as well as a relatively wide fin spacing that guarantees optimal heat dissipation even at low fan speeds. Thanks to its two large Airflow-Gaps that provide additional cooling for near-socket motherboard components, the NH-C12P is perfectly suited for use in poorly ventilated desktop cases.

Just like the successful NH-U12P, the NH-C12P is equipped with Noctua's NF-P12 premium fan that ensures outstanding cooling performance at minimal noise levels and has received more than 50 recommendations from leading international websites and magazines since its introduction in November. The premium bundle is topped off by Noctua's award-winning NT-H1 high-end thermal compound, making the NH-C12P a total quality package for the highest demands.

Price and availability:
The NH-C12P is available immediately at a recommended price of EUR 59.90 / USD 69.90.

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For those of you that are interested, it just went on pre-order. EVGA is proud to announce the first ever EVGA designed GeForce 9800 GX2 water block - the EVGA 9800GX2 Hydro Copper 18 waterblock (part number: 200-CU-HC18-B1) with a 100% copper design and SLI compatibility. Being a full cover block, the Hydro Copper 18 is compatible with all reference 9800 GX2 cards and can be used in both 3/8" ID and 1/2" ID water cooling systems. Available now for pre-order, you'll have to hurry up if you want to buy one, because the block is said to be produced in a limited quantities.

The price is very steep though, $249.99.

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SteelSeries on Monday introduced its latest gaming product to the US market, the 7G keyboard. The company claims the mechanical 7G is 90 percent more responsive and 10 times more durable that regular keyboards, and eliminates anti-ghosting by supporting a key press command for every key. For low latency communication, the 7G features 18K gold-plated connectors. The 7G utilizes iron-infused plastic and gold-plated no-click switches, among other features, to endow it with a guarantee for 50 million keystrokes by its maker.

For convenience, the keyboard features headphone and microphone connections, in addition to two USB ports. SteelSeries' Media Controls allow users to control volume levels. Computer connections are accomplished via either the PS/2 or USB ports.

The 7G can be purchased from SteelSeries' website as well as four other more common webstores for $150, which quite frankly seems a 100 bucks too much, but that's just silly ol' me.

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Dailytech today reproted that E3 Games Event is losing support of Major Publishers. I think that might be a correct assumption. Perhaps Gaming Expo's like in Leipzig (Europe) will grow to become the new 'E3'.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, more commonly called E3, was once the biggest gaming event and conference in the world. Times have changed though, as E3 decided to downsize by cutting the glitter and glamour, turning it into a smaller event aimed at the press.

One would expect that games publishers would welcome the cost savings of bringing things down to a smaller scale, the upcoming E3 is steadily losing support from the biggest forces in gaming.

Activision Blizzard said that it will not participate at the E3 event this year, issuing a statement that read,

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