andPOP » pc

Bizarre Creations’ BLUR Looks Set to Blow Away Competition

Brett.Caron — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:06:16 +0000

Activision has announced the November 3rd release of Bizarre Creations’ new racing extravaganza game – and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Players will race up to 50 licensed cars, over courses featuring jumps, alternate routes and hairpin turns – business as usual. What’s unusual is that while this is going on, players will be picking up power-ups – nitro, shields, and offensive weapons to knock the other players into last place – or out of the race completely.

Blur looks upon first glance to be no more than a Burnout clone, but without going into too many details, it’s a project all it’s own. Placing an emphasis on the multiplayer experience through a community-based interface, a “unique story-driven social network”, this game promises to deliver better, more personable online play.

So look for this title on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in November – if you’re not paying attention, it might just blow right past you.

Cheers.

More Mass Effect 2 Details, and a Video!

Josh Salem — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:20:18 +0000

Looks like CAPTAIN Shepard is searching for new recruits, and if this video is any indication, he’s going to have quite the gang of space ass-kickers!

It seems from the video below that Mass Effect 2 brings into effect personalities of those involved in the battle beyond just the skills and techniques of those in Mass Effect 1. Case in point is the introduction of Grunt, a blood-hungry Krogan. He is violent, he is unpredictable and he has never been truely defeated in battle. He’s dangerous, and he’s on your side.

Enjoy the video after the break as more are expected in the future before Mass Effect 2’s release.

SPORE: Galactic Adventures Evolves Fast

Brett.Caron — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:22:27 +0000

SPORE: Galactic Adventures is an expansion that will kill a few hours at a time, whenever you feel like it. I think that’s an important distinction to make – the difference between your immersion in a truly epic game that you have to really pull yourself away from, and a game that is easy to break away from, but is still fun to play for hours at a time. Through it’s simple interface for play and very in-depth character(creature) creation process, it can be a pleasant diversion whether you’re more into the gaming itself, or (like me) you enjoy playing around with how bizarre a creature you can make, or how human you can evolve it.

The game begins at the level of a single-celled organism, and you evolve your creature (I named my creature Lepreclops, after my two favourite mythological beasts) from an amoeba-like blob to a sentient, spacefaring species. The funny thing is that even at the point of civilization I found that my creature still seemed animalistic to me, which bothered me a bit. The progression of the stages goes from simple and fleeting (like the amoeba-stages) to the more engaging and complex (like spacefaring eras).

The creature creation system features some new parts not featured in the original SPORE, so maybe a million more combination of parts. I’m not kidding, it’s that diverse. So if you’re like me, and just want a diversion for a few hours here and there, then you may want to take your time evolving your creature.

Spore in action.

One interesting feature of the Galactic Adventures expansion is that users can design their own missions. Which means that any given planet your species lands on, may or may not have a maze of certain death awaiting them – like an intergalactic IKEA. Of course, it could also be a happy funland rescue-the-kitten mission. It depends on how sadistic the player is. So,most likely a death-maze.

All in all, I found this game to be somewhat engaging but at the same time, I found it a little lackluster in almost every aspect but the creature creator. Lucky for SPORE, the creature creator alone is pretty much worth the buy. It’s although worth a few hours of your time, here and there.

Cheers.

Graphics: 4/5

Interface: 3/5

Gameplay: 3/5

Replay value: 5/5

LanFest 08 Offers $15,000 Worth Of Prizes

andPOP Staff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:35:37 +0000

Newegg.ca announced last week that LanFest 08 will be available to online gamers, where they will have a chance to compete for over $15,000 CAD in prizes. The online tournament is currently underway, and features numerous PC and Xbox 360 titles, such as Call of Duty: World at War, NHL 09 from EA Sports, and Guitar Hero. There are a variety of tournaments and ladder competitions available, from one-on-one to five-on-five formats.

Registration for LanFest 08 is open at www.newegg.ca to all Canadians 13 years and older.

City Interactive Releases SAS: Secure Tomorrow

andPOP Staff — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:57:33 +0000

On Friday, City Interactive, a North American publisher of PC and console video games, announced the release of SAS: Secure Tomorrow to North American retail. SAS: Secure Tomorrow is a PC-supported tactical shooter game where players become the leader of a superior SAS commando team to thwart a deadly terrorist organization, according to a press release from City Interactive.

The game will allow players access to authentic SAS gears, weapons and tactics, according to the press release.

Dark Horizon Video Game Development Completed

andPOP Staff — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:37:01 +0000

Paradox Interactive yesterday announced that the development of Dark Horizon, the upcoming space combat game for the PC, has been completed.

Dark Horizon is a space combat adventure game that takes space in an atmospheric universe where the player fights through 22 missions of space combat. The game also features RPG elements, such as original weapon and equipment creation, several modes of combat and advanced ship customization.

Dark Horizon is set for a North American release on September 23, and a European release for September 26.

LaCie Adds USB Speakers to Product Line

andPOP Staff — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:50:58 +0000

LaCie announced earlier this week the addition of USB Speakers by Neil Poulton to their product line. The speakers provide universal usability in both PC and Mac environments through bus-powered connectivity, and feature internal cable storage.

The LaCie USB speakers can plug into a PC or Mac without installing any additional drivers. The speakers can also be connected directly to a MP3 player with the purchase of an extra power adapter.

The speakers were also awarded the Janus 2007 Seal of Quality by the French Institute of Design, and were listed in Time Magazine’s Design 100 issue. LaCie was also awarded a 2008 Design Observer Star from the French Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation.

The LaCie USB Speakers are available worldwide for the suggested retail price of $59.99. For more information on this product, visit www.lacie.com.

KOEI Announces Release of Dynasty Warriors 6 for PlayStation 2 and PC

andPOP Staff — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:40:51 +0000

KOEI, a developer and distributer of strategy and action games, announced today that the company will be bringing its successful tactical action game, Dynasty Warriors 6, to the PlayStation 2 and to Windows-based PC.

Dynasty Warriors 6 will debut on PlayStation 2 as a two-disc collection featuring the full cast of characters and scenarios of the original release, as well as platform-exclusive content including the ‘Musou’ mode stories, new weapons, five additional stages and 10 new scenarios.

Dynasty Warriors 6 for PlayStation 2 will ship to retailers starting November 18, while the version for Windows-based PCs will be available exclusively through digital download. The game is already in stories for the PlayStation 3 entertainment system and for the Xbox 360.

NZXT Releases Mouse Designed for Gamers

andPOP Staff — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:35:24 +0000

NZXT, a company specializing in PC gaming accessories, recently announced the release of the Avatar high performance gaming mouse. The Avatar is designed to provide gamers with enhanced game play through the introduction of various features exclusive to the device.

The Avatar features a 2600 DPI Optical Sensor, which gives the mouse maximum sensitivity and responsiveness to yield greater gaming accuracy. The Avatar also features 7 programmable keys that allow gamers to customize their configuration specifically for First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Player games all within the macro and profile settings.

Finally, the Avatar has an ergonomic, ambidextrous design that gives full use to both right and left handed gamers. The Avatar can be easily installed into PCs through any available USB port.

The Avatar is retailing for $59.99, and more information can be found at www.nzxt.com/products/avatar.

Review: DocuPen RC800

andPOP Staff — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:31:03 +0000

It’s official: loving technology is cool. The image of the nerd in mama’s basement has been banished and replaced by the multitude of gadget lovers that roam the streets brandishing iPhones and Blackberrys. Companies are realizing the sales potential of cool looking devices in a world where image is everything.

Planon, a small Canadian company, employs a similar logic in their unique product line of portable scanners. It seems improbable that the words “portable” and “scanner” belong in the same sentence, but Planon pulls it off with the DocuPen RC800. The diminutive scanner makes quite an initial first impression. It’s a device that would feel right at home in 007’s back-pocket.

On paper, the DocuPen’s specifications sound pretty good. Roughly the size of a pen, the device is capable of full 24bit scanning in a matter of seconds. It’s activated through a rolling motion as you slide it over a document or image, and produces scans of up to 400 dpi. It can store about 100 scans on its 8mb internal memory, but can be upgraded with a microSD card.

In practice, it’s a slightly different story. While the pen is visually impressive, the build quality is very poor. I’ve used sturdier electric toothbrushes. It really is a shame that Planon chose to use cheap materials on what really is a cool looking and ridiculously overpriced product.

The pen operates through two side-by-side buttons: one to turn the unit on, the other to toggle between scan modes. It includes scanning modes for black and white documents, colour documents, and a dedicated photo setting. All of my test scans were done in the pen’s highest-resolution setting. I scanned a simple 8.5×11 text document and found the resultant images surprisingly legible. There were some harsh edges and blurred characters, but document scanning was impressive overall.

After switching to the photo mode, I ran the pen over a 4×6 print. Because the pen’s default size is 8.5×11, the resultant images included the surrounding scan area and needed cropping. Planon’s built in software should have included a function to do this automatically, but I was forced to do it myself in Photoshop. The quality of the photo scan was satisfactory, but mediocre when compared to a scan from a full-sized flatbed scanner.

The included software is extremely barebones, with nothing more than a thumbnail preview and download button. As simple as this sounds, Planon still managed to get this wrong. In order to transfer and save my scans, I was forced to use the save option in Mac OS X’s Preview application. As fast as the unit may be at scanning documents, the time it take transfer the files is painfully slow. The DocuPen is badly crippled by poor software implementation.

Charging the DocuPen’s built in li-ion battery requires a USB connection via Planon’s proprietary USB cable. Unfortunately, the unit features no battery status meter. I couldn’t tell whether I had a full battery charge or whether the pen was on its last leg.

As cool as this thing is, I’m struggling to see its day-to-day application. Those who frequently scan documents would appreciate the convenience of a portable scanner, but the clunkiness of the unit would certainly prove infuriating in everyday use. The MSRP of $299 USD is simply unreasonable, a ludicrous amount for a device worth half that amount.

The DocuPen is then a classic example of form over function, a cool-looking one trick pony meant to impress the guys at the office rather than become a permanent fixture in one’s technological arsenal.

Pros:
- Scans documents and photos effectively on the go
- Awesome design and diminutive design
- Mac and PC Compatible

Cons:
- Ridiculously overpriced at $299 USD
- Scan quality is mediocre at best
- Build quality and materials are sub par
- Terrible software
- Proprietary USB connection