昨日、解析のためのパソコンを組むために秋葉原へ行ってパーツを買ってきた。構成は

CPU　intel Core2Duo E8500(3.16GHz)
M/B GIGABYTE GA-EG31MF-S2
メモリ CFD DDR2-800 1G×4
HDD Western Digital SATA 320GとMaxtor SATA 160G(@salamannからのもらいもの)
光学ドライブ　DVDマルチドライブ(@salamannからのもらいもの)
電源 420Wのやつ
ケース 急いで買ってきたやつ
モニタ Acer x193wbd(親父が買ってくれた)
キーボード @salamannからもらったやつ
マウス ノートで使ってたやつ

組み立てはまぁまぁスムーズにいった気がする。CPUクーラーをはめるのがなんかマザボ折れるんじゃないかと思って怖かった。組みあがってから、さあいよいよ電源いれるかと思ったら電源が入らない。なんでだろうなぁと思いかなり落ち込みつつ接続を確認する。けれどもどこもおかしいところがみつからない。うーん…と思っていたらコンセント入れるのを忘れていたｗどおりで電源のファンすらまわらないわけだｗってことで早速コンセントをいれて起動。しかしまたもや異常発生。BIOSに行く前の画面ですごいノイズがでてさきに進まない。BIOSの設定画面に行きたくてキーボードを押してみても反応しない。これまたまいったなぁと思って再びケースを開けてみる。もう一度接続を確認して、やはり正しく接続されているのを確認。悩んだ挙句、@salamannが自作したとき、起動しなくて、パーツを1つずつ外して検証していたというのをブログに書いていたなと思い出して、俺もそうしようと思う。一番外しやすかったメモリから外すことに。そして、一つ外してみると、綺麗に起動した。おお!と思って画面を見ると、1Gが3枚ささっているはずなのに2Gしか認識していない。再びあっれーと思って、メモリスロットを変えたり、4枚の組み合わせを変えたりしていると、どうも3枚さしても2枚分しか認識せず、4枚目をさすとおかしくなるというのがわかった。メモリスロット、メモリを色々変えても症状が同じなので、マザボの初期不良なのではないかと思う。なので買った店に電話してみようと思う。2枚なら動くのでさっそくOSをインストール。とくに問題はなく、今はSolidworksもインストールし終わっている。あとはメモリだなぁ･･･。今日電話して、交換ということになったとしても、また組むと思うとメンドウだなぁ。

モニタは親父の会社から借りようと思って、親父に頼んでいたんだけど、市外に会社のものを持ち出したくないということでわざわざ新しく買って送ってくれた。なんだか悪いことをしてしまったと思いつつも感謝。そういや親父は昨日からマレーシアに出張らしい。昔から出張の多い人で、マレーシアとかシンガポールとかに行くのが多かった。月に何度も出張があったから、家族ですら、どこに出張に行っているのかわからないなんて時期もあったっけ。マレーシアとかシンガポールって何語を話しているんだろうか。英語?いつも親父が海外に出張というと思うのだけど、親父は英語を喋れるのだろうか。英語喋っているとこなんて見たことないし、想像もできないんだけどなぁ。不思議。

oku

Por Claudio Prandoni

Pode me chamar de fraude que sou mesmo. O Pablo Raphael vai me deserdar e alguns amigos meus caiçaras das antigas vão falar que é heresia, mas não manjo absolutamente nada de Diablo.

Minha experiência com a série da Blizzard se limita a ter jogado duas vezes o demo do primeiro Diablo e ver um amigo meu ficar fazendo nível no mundo das vacas em Diablo II. E só. Ponto. Nada mais. Em termos de Blizzard, minha experiência se desdobra mais em Lost Vikings, Rock'n Roll Racing, Wacraft II e metade do Warcraft III. Starcraft? Já ouvi falar em algum lugar, mas não lembro, desculpe...

Enfim, apesar das fraudes mega blaster hell respeito absurdamente o senso de humor da Blizzard. Não só eles fazem algumas das brincadeiras de primeiro de abril mais legais do universo como também sabem receber de maneira criativa as críticas.

Por exemplo, na Blizzcon 08, que tá rolando nos Estados Unidos até o final do dia de hoje, alguns dos produtores do game estão circulando trajando uma camiseta com a estampa acima. Quando questionado que raios era aquilo, o designer chefe Jay Wilson disse que era o novo logo do jogo (de brincadeira, claro), em resposta às reclamações de que Diablo III, iminente capítulo da série de RPG a aportar um dia quem sabe para PCs (e talvez até consoles!) estava colorido demais em relação aos predecessores.

Segundo ele, caso o público reaja de maneira ávida e positiva, há possibilidade de eles colocaram a camiseta para vender no site da Blizzard.

Bonita, divertida, casual, muito máscula. Quase Nintendo, não?

Vejam como Jay Wilson ficou maroto:

[via Kotaku]

At Blizzcon (NOT TGS), Blizzard announced that Starcraft 2 will come in 3 separate packages, as a trilogy for the 3 campaigns of different races.

• Terrans - Wings of Liberty
• Zerg - Heart of the Swarm
• Protoss - Legacy of the Void

What does this mean? Means you have buy 3 times for 1 game lah!! But its Blizzard, so Its perfectly OKAY for them to do this, seriously, they can release Starcraft 2 and charge me monthly I oso dont care.

Fuente: infosertec.com.ar

Clear Sky is a prequel to Shadow of Chernobyl, set in a larger Zone around the NPP. There is a fair amount of new content and a lot of the original terrain has been rejigged which adds greatly to the excitement. You wake up as an anonymous loner who has *just* survived a massive blow out which cooked the other members of your party. The similarity to the original title ends there though, and players are immediately put to work as a member of the Clear Sky faction - a group of scientists who are studying the Zone. The game starts quickly, throwing the player into the nearby swamp and introducing them to a lot of the 'strategy' concepts early on.

Do not get too excited about the strategy side of things - I was of the mistaken impression that it would involve a game play cross between the original Stalker and a Battlefield style with resources and areas of influence. Unfortunately it is a lot more basic than that and really just expands the completely superfluous Stalker ranking system of the original game. To those of you wondering what I am talking about.. you have made my point for me. The feature was completely superfluous and merely tracked the player's progress through the game based on how many people they had killed. Fast forward 18 months and Clear Sky expands this concept by formalising the factions in the PDA and providing nifty bars showing faction influence, disposition to the player and 'resources.' Any hope of any deep strategy is wiped out here as the stats can so far simply be interpreted by: powerful faction - lots of pointless side quests, otherwise ignore. The side quests are the biggest disappointment thus far for me as they seems to be generated from the template : "Go 5 to 10 mins out of your way and kill something" which gets very old very quickly. Scripted side quests are however interesting and having met a deserting Russian Army driver who promptly tried to double cross me I am cautiously optimistic about the rest of the game. Let this be a warning to you - don't trust people you meet hiding under a bridge. :p

Despite the use of the original locations, models and textures Clear Sky is a very different game. The story is just as engaging as the original, if not more so, as it makes full use of the fact it is a prequel to interweave some of the key characters from Shadow of Chernobyl into the plot. Who knows, maybe even Strelok will make an appearance later? The engine has been greatly upgraded and now includes a lot of beautiful weather and lighting effects coupled with a day night transition system which turn a game already dripping in atmosphere into something almost surreal in places. The atmosphere is largely thanks to the authenticity of having a development team from the Ukraine. The moody, functional architecture from a post Soviet era comes accross naturally and is sufficiently alien to many Western players to really add intrigue to this already very different world. Greatly improved textures and sounds coupled with the graphical enhancements and interesting developments to the AI really make the game stand out for me, and although it will never have the same level of graphical polish as something like Call of Duty 4, there have been moments already which have left me in awe. Sadly players who played the original will be frustrated that some of glitches still present in Clear Sky. Randomly disappearing NPCs, occasional clipping bugs, annoying side quest spawning (and timing) all remain, although many bugs have been fixed.

Bugs not-with-standing, I have only played this game for a very short duration and even by my overly critical standards the game is, so far, highly enjoyable and definitely worth buying. I will write more when I have had a chance to get deeper into the Zone.

Como vcs sabem jogos bons baseados em filmes podem ser contados nos dedos (Transformers, Ghost Raider...) e da Disney então só me lembro de "A nova onda do imperador" para o saldoso PS1 e Tesoure Island tbm para o PS1.

O jogo promete cambiar sua jogabilidade entre Ação e Estratégia. pelo menos foi o que a Avalanche (produtora do jogo) disse.

Speaking at yesterday's Diablo III Gameplay panel, Blizzard's Julian Wilson was asked one of the questions that's been hiding in the back of all of our brains, "Is Battle.Net going to remain free?" His response probably wasn't what you'd want to hear. "We are looking to monetize Battle.Net so that we get to keep making these games and updating features," said Wilson. "We kind of have to." He went on to say that they do recognize that everyone loves having it as a free service, and that they don't have a strong desire to make a subscription-based game. What does that mean for our beloved free online gaming service? We're hoping to find out when we talk to Blizzard bigwig Rob Pardo later this afternoon.

This might just be the first time in American history when participation in the presidential election overshadows the viewership of Dancing With the Stars, so it makes sense that a game developer would want to capitalize on all the Head of State hubbub, enter Activision, and their recently announced, bargain-priced shooter Secret Service. The title will pit you, an agent of the esteemed presidential protection outfit, against a number of inimical extremists who attack Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day. Very few details about the title were shared in the press release the company just dropped, though it was revealed that the story and level design will be crafted by former Creative Director for Naughty Dog, Daniel Arey. Parties who are interested in taking a few bullets for our Commander in Chief will be able to enlist on the Xbox 360 ($39.99), PS2 ($29.99) and PC ($19.99) when the game hits store shelves "later this year".

Keďže som jeden zo šťastlivcov, ktorí majú účet migrovaný z CharlieOscarDelta, mám vo vlastnictve svoj nevyužiteľný X360 kľúč. Ak máte záujem, máte šancu ak okomentujete aspoň jeden článok na webe.

Druhú svätovú opäť zažijeme v Call of Duty: World at War už 14. novembra.

Original Article here

The next instalment of EA's football game is here. Where you ask? Apparently the game has released in Europe and has rapidly spread all over the bit-torrent network. Some may have pre-ordered their copies while some might be waiting for it to hit the store shelves in their town. However, the ones who couldn't wait for the game to release and were not afraid to get their hands dirty, got their hands on it through the generous torrent community. So what we have here is a scenario where people were playing the game one day before its scheduled release. Nice.

Anyways, let's get down to the interesting part, the things most of you would like answers to. Is FIFA 09 really next-gen, as promised? Does it deliver oh-so-realistic visuals? Have the quirks and bugs in previous versions been ironed out? How does it compare to its arch nemesis - Pro Evolution Soccer? All these and more will be answered!

First Impressions

Okay, I'll skip the installation part as most of you are aware of it. Started the game, and the first screen asks me to select a language. Did that, and the mandatory declarations about the leagues and the copyrights came up.

I waited with bated breath as the opening cinematic began. Looks like EA have stopped making interesting opening videos since FIFA 2004. Even the video quality was not all that impressive. Not at all enticing. Selected my beloved Chelsea as the favourite team and I was all set.

The Interface

The interface is carried over from FIFA 08, with Adidas Live Season being a new addition. It basically allows you to select a league, for which you'll get periodic updates from EA. For example, if a certain player is performing well in real life, his stats will be affected in the game as well. And if a player has a dip in form, his game stats will be reduced. Cool, innit?

The much-acclaimed Be-A-Pro mode is also there, with a new camera angle that looks better than the one in FIFA 08. This time around, you can opt to play a single Be-A-Pro game rather than a whole season. The other game modes are the same as in previous releases. Enough small-talk, now let's get down to business.

Gameplay & Visuals

Sadly despite all the hype surrounding the so-called next-gen features incorporated in FIFA 09, the game did not live up to my expectations. What I expected was pretty clear - smooth, stunning visual quality, fluid player movement, 'intelligent' AI, engrossing gameplay. In short, I was looking for something which would make me go "Wow!" and make me want to play the game again and again.

But this was not to be. Now please note, I'm expressing my own opinions here, which may or may not correspond to your views. The first time I fired up the game, I set all details to high including 3-D Grass, Depth of Field and Shader Quality. Then I proceeded to set up my cheap PS-2 controller lookalike. But what's this? Some buttons just would not get mapped and remained 'EMPTY'! After a little searching on the Internet, I was able to find a solution for this.

Strike One.

Then I started a quick match and waited in anticipation at the loading screen. Ahh!! Looking good! The match began and being the seasoned footballer that I am, I could't wait to... what the hell??

Why is the game stuttering??? Is something wrong with my setup? Is my 8600GT graphics card unable to handle the next-gen visuals?

Quit the game, reduced the detail level to minimum and started a new match, hoping for better results. Damn. Not again.

After much research on the Internet, I found many unfortunate souls plagued with the same problem. A solution was found, but the game was still not smooth enough, though playable.

Strike Two.

Okay, so I can manage with a handicapped controller and laggy visuals, but glitches in gameplay? Not at all tolerable. The first glitch is, that after managing to get my controller working, whenever I pass the ball to a teammate, the ball bounces off him, as if the right-analog stick is pressed in some direction. Secondly, goalscoring is insanely easy! It's as if the keepers have been picked up from a pub team!! Then, in a bid to improve the player physics, they've made it such that in a crowd of players, the ball just keeps bouncing off players until someone manages to get control of it. Imagine that while trying to clear the ball in front of your own box surrounded by opposition attackers.

Strike Three. You're OUT.

My Verdict

Let's start with the good. The players look absolutely breathtaking, much more realistic than ever. The crowds have been considerably improved. Overall visual quality is pretty nice, with some subtle touches such as sweat on the foreheads of players. The ambiance is well-maintained by the chanting of fans and the crowd noises. There are loads of licensed leagues, teams and players to chose from. The Adidas Live Season is a good concept. The ability to use the mouse to play the game is quite innovative.

Now for the not-so-good. The gameplay is definitely not next-gen. Players can still move only in 8 directions and the fluidity in movement is almost absent. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not so intelligent. Apart from the visual elements, the game is not a big leap from its predecessor. Rather, it seems like 1 step forward, 2 steps backward. After all, it's not just tricks & flicks that make up a football game. The core element, that is the gameplay, the feeling of actually being in the game, is lacking.

FIFA 09 is a good game, but after so much hype, I was expecting more than just a visual upgrade. There are several bugs that need to be ironed out and more than once, you'll get the feeling that EA has short-changed PC gamers.

If I had to rate it, I'd give it 7 out of 10.

Issues, Issues!

1. Where is Andrei Arshavin? One of the best performers of Euro 2008 can't make it into this game.
2. Where are the UEFA Cup holders Zenit St. Petersburg? Actually, where is the Russian League?
3. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, one of the best strikers in Europe, coveted by some of the biggest clubs, does not have a face in this game. But he's not alone, there are many more like him.
4. Many gamepads don't work out-of-the-box with this game.
5. Graphics on high-end systems are poor, but surprisingly good on mid to low range machines.
6. Why can't we assign custom offensive and defensive runs to players?
7. Where is Mineiro, who has now signed for Chelsea?
8. When a player is substituted, I couldn't find out the substitution if no cinematic was played. There could have been at least a simple popup.
9. The cinematics are all from previous editions of the game.

Okay, so that's enough FIFA-bashing for now. In short, it's not a bad game at all, but it's not great either. So if you love the FIFA series and don't care too much about gameplay or simply want to soak in all the visual goodness, you can very well go and get this game. Otherwise, in my opinion it would be wise to wait until Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 releases, and compare both games to pick out the one that suits your taste.

More Screenshots!

Die bislang hierzulande wohl größte Protestkundgebung für den Datenschutz und gegen "Big Brother" gestaltete sich als buntes politisches Signal und Freiheitsparade mit Musikwägen. Bis zur Abschlusskundgebung am Brandenburger Tor verlief die Veranstaltung friedlich. Die mit 900 Einsatzkräften präsente Polizei und Demonstranten hielten sich im Unterschied zur Großdemo mit rund 15.000 Teilnehmern vor einem Jahr beidseitig mit Provokationen zurück, auch wenn ein Sicherheitsbeamter deutlich sichtbar von Anfang an eine Videokamera auf die Menge hielt.

In seiner Eröffnungsrede malte Kai-Uwe Steffens vom Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung ein "furchtbares Bild" gegenwärtiger staatlicher Überwachungsprojekte. Die geplante Ausweitung der Befugnisse des Bundeskriminalamts (BKA) nebst heimlicher Online-Durchsuchungen, die Anti-Terrordatei, die Fluggastdatenspeicherung und "andere Grausamkeiten" stünde neben der laufenden Aufhebung der Trennung von Geheimdiensten und Polizeien. Deswegen müssten die Bürger mit aller Kraft ihre Grundrechte und die Freiheit verteidigen.

Der Netzkünstler padeluun vom Datenschutzverein FoeBuD dankte als Mitorganisator der Deutschen Telekom "herzlich", weil sie mit ihren ständigen Skandalen zeige, "dass gehortete Daten niemals sicher sind und wahrscheinlich auch missbraucht werden". Deswegen müsse die verdachtsunabhängige Vorratsspeicherung von Telefon- und Internetdaten "sofort gestoppt" werden.

Medienaktivistin Anne Roth berichtete aus Erfahrung am eigenen Leibe, welches "riesige Ausmaß an Überwachung" der umstrittene Anti-Terrorparagraph 129a Strafgesetzbuch erlaube. Roth ist die Freundin des Berliner Soziologen Andrej Holm, der unter anderem wegen seiner Wortwahl in die Mühlen des staatlichen Fahndungsapparats rund um die "militante gruppe" (mg) geriet. Seitdem lebe das Paar "ständig mit der Schere im Kopf", selbst beim Aufruf von Internetseiten. "Mit dem Gespenst Terrorismus wird Angst gemacht", warnte die Journalistin. Darauf aufbauend wiederum würden immer neue "Sicherheitsgesetze" verabschiedet. Die Demo zeige jedoch, dass sich die Bürger "nicht alles gefallen lassen".

weiterlesen bei heise-online

Quelle: heise.de/c´t

Em 1996, rumores sobre um novo console da Sega apareceram pelo mundo. De acordo com esses rumores, o codinome dessa máquina seria "Dural" (nome do chefe do jogo Virtua Fighter 2). No começo de 1997, informações sobre uma possível parceria entre Sega e Microsoft e a fabricação do processador de vídeo pela NEC/Videologic saíram de dentro da própria Sega.

Logo após essas informações a 3DFX, empresa de tecnologia gráfica, revelou um acordo com a Sega para prover tecnologia gráfica para uma nova máquina denominada até o momento de "BlackBelt". Até aquele momento, a 3DFX era muito popular por causa de suas placas aceleradores de vídeo chamadas "Voodoo" para PC's e aparentemente seria essas placas usadas na nova máquina da Sega.

Agora é claro que a Sega tinha duas máquina diferentes em desenvolvimento, uma no Japão (codinome "Dural/Katana"), e uma nos Estados Unidos (codinome "BlackBelt"). Em um determinando momento, o "BlackBelt" (desenvolvido pela Segasoft, Microsoft e 3DFX) foi apresentado para um limitado número de desenvolvedores e aparentemente foi muito bem recebido. O sistema operacional foi desenvolvido de uma maneira para tornar fácil a programação e permitir conversões de jogos para PC e do PC mais rápidas. Até aquele momento a política da Sega mostrava que poder de processamento não era mais importante do que facilidade de programação de jogos. O japonês "Katana" superava o "BlackBelt" em termos de hardware, porém tinha um sistema operacional mais difícil de ser programado.

Em julho, a Sega cancelou o acordo com a 3DFX, a aparentemente o "BlackBelt" seria cancelado também. Não se sabe ao certo o porque do "BlackBelt" ter sido cancelado em favor da versão japonesa, porém a razão mais aparente seria que os custos de produção eram muito altos, tornando o preço para o consumidor final muito "salgado". Outra possibilidade seria que o "BlackBelt" não tinha poder suficiente para competir no mercado com as novas máquinas produzidas pela Sony (PlayStation 2) e pela Nintendo (GameCube).

Nesse momento foi reportado no Japão que o codinome do console passou a ser "Katana". Foi oficialmente anunciado que a Hitachi faria a CPU para a máquina. No começo de 1998, NEC/Videologic foi confirmada para a fabricação do processador de vídeo, o PowerVR Series II. O sistema operacional foi alterado para ser fácil de uso e programação assim como era o do "BlackBelt". A Microsoft escreveu um novo sistema de desenvolvimento baseada na tecnologia do Windows CE (sistema operacional usado nos palmtops e handhelds). Em maio de 1998 o Dreamcast foi oficialmente anunciado por Bernie Stolar, até o momento CEO da "Sega of America".

O Dreamcast foi lançado dia 27 de novembro de 1998 no Japão. Os americanos tiveram que esperar quase um ano para o lançamento nos Estados Unidos. Seu lançamento foi no dia 9 de setembro de 1999 (9/9/99) com uma campanha de marketing monstruosa. Na Europa, a data do lançamento foi em 14 de outubro de 1999 e na Austrália/Nova Zelândia no dia 30 de Novembro de mesmo ano.

O Dreamcast arrecadou mais de US$ 97 milhões no primeiro dia de lançamento na América do Norte e vendeu mais de 500.000 unidades nas primeiras 2 semanas. Em um mês e meio a marca chegou a 1 milhão de máquinas vendidas.

Na Europa foram vendidas mais de 100.000 máquinas no dia do lançamento e mais de 185.000 no primeiro fim de semana.

Infelizmente, na região da Austrália, o lançamento foi considerado um desastre pelos fãs da Sega. O distribuidor oficial da Sega por lá, a Ozisoft, lançou somente 9 títulos no período do lançamento do Dreamcast, e nenhum desses produzido pela Sega. VMS e outros periféricos não estavam também disponíveis.

No Brasil, a Tec Toy (representante oficial da Sega por aqui) fez uma campanha até que grande. Cheguei a ver diversos "Outdoors" por São Paulo e alguns comerciais na televisão. Mas nem tudo são flores. O Dreamcast produzido pela Tec Toy vinha sem o Modem. Como seu preço era mais alto do que os praticados pelos importadores (e ainda por cima o importado vinha com Modem) acredito que a Tec Toy não tenha conseguido bons resultados nas vendas (isso não quer dizer que o Dreamcast não foi bem aceito).

O Dreamcast realmente era uma máquina muito potente, tanto para jogos 3D quanto para jogos 2D. Conversões do arcade eram simples e fáceis. E muitas vezes a conversão saia melhor do que o original (Soul Calibur é um bom exemplo). O que impressiona também, é o tempo de carregamento dos jogos. Alguns praticamente não tem.

O controle do Dreamcast foi praticamente baseado no controle 3D do Saturn. O controle e bem macio e fácil de segurar (apesar do seu tamanho), porém, para jogos de luta recomendo um controle Arcade. Existem 2 entradas no controle, uma para o VMU (Visual Memory Unit, ou memory card, como preferirem) e outra para o acessório de vibração do controle.

O desenvolvimento do Dreamcast iniciou-se pela produção de dois projetos diferentes: O projeto Black Belt foi desenvolvido pela Sega americana em conjunto com a 3Dfx, enquanto a Sega Japonesa desenvolveu o projeto Dural em conjunto com a NEC e a Hitachi. No final o projeto Dural acabou sendo escolhido, o que levou o time de desenvolvimento do Black Belt a se desligar da SEGA. Posteriormente, o projeto Dural foi renomeado Katana, até finalmente receber seu nome definitivo: Dreamcast (Elenco de Sonho).
O lançamento do Dreamcast no Japão em 27/11/1998 foi um sucesso, esgotando as 150.000 unidades disponíveis em um único dia. Nos Estados Unidos da América o Dreamcast bateu o recorde de vendas de consoles, com 500.000 unidades só na data de lançamento, em 9/9/1999. No Brasil o aparelho foi lançado pela Tec Toy em outubro de 1999.
Diversas empresas desenvolveram jogos para o Dreamcast. Houve inclusive o apoio da Microsoft, que desenvolveu para o Dreamcast um kit de desenvolvimento baseado no Windows CE, que permitia portar jogos da plataforma PC para o console com mais velocidade e facilidade.
Em janeiro de 2001 a SEGA anunciou uma mudança de planos, onde estaria desenvolvendo jogos para os outros videogames disponíveis no mercado. Com isso o Dreamcast estava sendo oficialmente descontinuado. Apesar da boa participação no mercado americano e europeu, a forte concorrência do Sony Playstation 2 e os seguidos anos de prejuízo aliado às baixas vendas no mercado japonês ajudaram para que isso acontecesse, pois também os novos videogames tinham um processador mais potente e usaram o novo tipo de disco de mídia, o DVD.
Nos meses que se seguiram, diversos jogos em desenvolvimento tanto pela SEGA quanto por outras empresas foram cancelados. Desenvolvimento de novos jogos ainda acontecem - apesar de raros, e se restringe ao mercado japonês.
Hoje em dia existe uma forte comunidade de desenvolvimento caseiro para o Dreamcast. Utilizando um Kit de Desenvolvimento também caseiro, chamado KallistiOS, estão sendo desenvolvidos diversos jogos, emuladores e aplicações que dão um sobrevida ao console.
Característica

O Dreamcast vinha equipado com um modem, que permitia o acesso à Internet através de um navegador desenvolvido especificamente para ele. Também foram lançados diversos jogos que permitiam partidas online. No Japão ainda foram lançados diversos jogos que possibilitavam a conexão com servidores regionais, permitindo partidas online dentro de redes específicamente criadas para aqueles jogos. No resto do mundo, todos os jogos online utilizavam exclusivamente a Internet. Ainda no Japão, diversos serviços online foram criados, como vídeo conferência e o download de músicas para karaokê, e através do navegador de internet era possível conversar via Internet utilizando um microfone conectado ao controle do videogame.

O Dreamcast utiliza um formato especial de CD-ROM desenvolvido pela Yamaha especialmente para a SEGA, chamado GD-ROM. Com capacidade de 1 Gigabyte, o formato parecia ser a prova de pirataria, até que em em junho de 2000 um grupo hacker chamado Utopia disponibilizou a imagem de um CD de boot, que permitia que o Dreamcast executasse jogos rodando em um simples CD-R. Isso era possível devido ao Dreamcast também suportar o formato Mil-CD, permitindo que um CD-R nesse formato fosse executado no console sem problema algum.Os Dreamcast fabricados após outubro de 2001 não possuem mais suporte ao formato Mil-CD, mas àquela altura milhões de unidades no mercado já haviam sido vendidas.

Um GD-ROM possui duas seções de dados: a primeira pode ser lida em drives de CD-ROM de computadores e que normalmente continham alguns bônus do jogo (papéis de parede, informações), enquanto a segunda contém os dados do jogo em sí, e só é acessado pelo Dreamcast.
Os jogos são codificados para funcionarem apenas nos aparelhos de sua própria região. Isso significa que jogos lançados em uma região não funcionará em aparelhos de outras regiões. As regiões disponíveis são: Japão, Estados Unidos da América (que inclui o Brasil) e Europa.

Like HL2, the graphics are spectacular in episodes 1 & 2, from the very first scene to the very last. Plenty of old favourites return to help out through various parts of the game, and unlike HL2, Alyx will play, fight and interact alongside you in 95% of the game. People I know are divided on whether Alyx is a clever piece of AI, an annoyance, or just an excuse to appeal to a wider audience because of the fresh element. Personally, I think that after hearing the directors commentary (more on that later) you appreciate just how complex the whole AI system is, including Alyx, DOG, and the enemy soldiers. Unlike in other games, the NPC’s in HL2 don’t get in the way, don’t shoot you by mistake, and most importantly; are likeable to the point you actually care whether they live or die. Having Alyx shooting, ducking and climbing alongside you is very refreshing and at times, integral to proceeding through the game. One particular moment has Alyx acting as backup sniper, shooting zombies while you rush forward, and another scene in the dark has Gordon shining light and directing Alyx where to shoot. She also has twice as many facial features for a much wider range of emotions, and you can see the importance placed on her character, as her background is also explored, as well as her connection and relationship to Gordon. Enemy AI is also as sharp as ever, and there are also soldier AI fighting zombie AI, which is great fun, as it gives you the chance to do what you want, a theme throughout the game as there are often multiple ways to solve a puzzle. You can either wade in and shoot anything and everything, take tactical sniper shots, or wait and pick of any remaining enemies. There are also all the usual HL puzzles, intricate level design, and challenging action, and the 2 expansion packs are every bit as good as the original, something I wasn’t expecting.

Team Fortress - I’ve had a go on it and can instantly see why it appeals to so many people. The first thing that TF2 reminded me of was the Timesplitter series on PS2. (Timesplitters is a FPS regarded as one of the PS2’s best FPS series) the graphics are cartoony although somehow realistic and very sharp, and look absolutely beautiful and slick. When joining a team there are several different roles for you to choose, each with unique weapons, abilities and roles. So everyone will have their own tactics and characters. Map designs are varied, look great, and the whole game runs seamlessly – not only graphically, but from a players point of view, the loading times are kept to a minimum, and options are all animated, a nice little touch that not many other games bother to include. Although I’m not hooked like some people are, I can see why people do love it as much as (if not more than) Counter-Strike: Source and other online shooters. I haven't been drawn in yet, and still mainly play Counter-Strike: Source.

Now, Portal is something special. This is the wheel, this is sliced bread, and this could be the single most brilliant concept ever. Portal is one of those things that come along every now and then and completely change the way games are thought of. I don’t think I can accurately describe just how utterly brilliant this game is, but I’ll give it a go anyway. The game is played like a FPS but is actually a puzzle game. Your only ‘gun’ is a portal device, you shoot 2 portals from it onto certain surfaces and use these portals to travel around and solve the puzzles on each map. I have no idea how the developers made it, but it’s simply astounding. The commentary from the PA is in typical Valve fashion and witty and truly entertaining, with quotes such as “do not attempt this puzzle as it is impossible”, “If you fail the test, the experiment will end – because you will be dead.” I’ve tried to do it justice in my description, but maybe this video will convey the brilliance of the game, and explain the concepts better. And remember this is a new game, and while it uses the HL2 engine, the thought behind each levels design, not to mention the additional way the portals are used. So much thought and effort has gone into the Orange Box that each individual game is worthy of a £30 price tag on its own, so you can see why £35 for the lot is such a great deal. Some other features are directors commentary on Portal and Episodes 1 & 2, bonus maps, loads of community maps are being developed, as is custom content, and add to this all the usual HL2 graphics, AI, physics, level design, characters, everything is in place and done to perfection. Quite simply, this is the single greatest gaming set in the world, and is the benchmark for any games in the future.

Rating: 9.5/10

Basically occult underground provides free resources and one of those is an extensive Ebook library that covers a variety of subjects from Aleister Crowely to Yoga. I've found a bunch of books here that have been on my reading list for a while, but have either been too expensive or hard to get hold of.

From what I've downloaded so far all the files are clean (virus free) and in PDF format so they can be read on PC/iPhone/Palm Pilot/Ebook Readers etc with ease.

‡♥‡

Mark Jacobs, el cofundador y director del estudio, ha manifestado su agradecimiento: "Gracias a nuestros jugadores, la guerra entre los reinos sigue creciendo a un ritmo increíble. Los campos de batalla están vivos con tres cuartos de millón de jugadores luchando por las fuerzas del orden y la destrucción en batallas entre reinos realmente épicas e inigualables."

Fuente:
http://www.meristation.com/v3/des_noticia.php?id=cw48ef7bb174979&pic=GEN

sekuel ke 4 dari Devil May Cry. DMC 4 dapat dimainkan di konsol Game : XBOX 360 & PS3, dan juga dapat dimainkan di PC... tentunya dengan grafis yg luar biasa. Sebenarnya pertama kali CAPCOM memberitahukan DMC 4 hanya dirilis sebagai Game PS3, tetapi karena permintaan para penggemar DMC, CAPCOM akhirnya memutuskan untuk merilisnya ke berbagai platform. Di DMC 4, akan ada secuil sedikit puzzle yg mungkin akan menyusahkan. oleh karena itu perhatikan setiap petunjuk yg ada.

Rating :

-Gameplay                      : 95/100

-Karakter                        : 90/100

-Kualitas Grafik              : 97/100

-Kualitas Suara & Musik : 91/100

~~~Storyline~~~

Awal cerita DMC 4 dimulai dengan video seorang pria remaja, Nero, yg lari menuju aula pertemuan Order of Sword. Di tengah perjalanan, Nero bertemu dengan sejumlah setan/akuma, dan Nero membantai mereka satu persatu. Setelah ia sampai ke aula pertemuan Order of Sword. Tiba-tiba Dante, tokoh utama DMC 1, 2, 3. Mendadak datang dan membantai para ksatria Order of Sword dgn sadis. Saat itu juga Nero melihat Dante sebagai seorang antagonist. Mereka sempat beradu pedang, dan pada akhirnya, sebelum Dante pergi, ia menunjukan pasukan Order of Knight adalah setan. Nero yg makin merasa bingung, manakah yg benar dan yg salah. Cuplikan video inilah yg menjadi permulaan kisah DMC 4.

~~~Gameplay~~~

Gameplay DMC 4 ini hampir sama dengan seri-seri sebelumnya, berpacu dengan waktu menyelesaikan misi untuk meraih tingkat yg terdapat dari D hingga SS. Akan banyak monster yg dijumpai di perjalanan, tapi tenang saja karena kebanyakan monster yg muncul adalah monster cetek yg tidak begitu kuat. Di dalam game DMC 4, kita harus mengumpulkan red orb untuk membeli item. Di DMC 4, red orb hanya dapat digunakan untuk membeli item, sedangkan proud soul adalah uang yg digunakan untuk meng-upgrade skill.

Peringkat akhir misi diurutkan berdasarkan waktu yang terpakai dalam menyelesaikan misi, damage yang diterima player, style points ketika menyerang. Style points didapat dari kombo-kombo yang dilancarkan. Urutan Style Point tergantung dari banyaknya kombo cantik yang dikerahkan, mulai dari D (Deadly) hingga S (Stylish), maka makin besar poin yang diperoleh. Apabila pemain terkena serangan atau berhenti menyerang, combo meter-nya akan berkurang.

Nero memiliki pedang bernama Red Queen, yg mempunyai gagang seperti motor, dan ditangan kanan Nero, ada tangan setan yg bernama Demon Bringer, memberi gaya berbeda dalam pertarungan dan efektif serta memiliki damege yg cukup besar. Terdapat Exceed Gauge yang dapat diisi dengan menekan LT (Left Trigger) berulang kali hingga Gauge-nya penuh. Cara memenuhkan Gauge adalah dengan menekan LT satu persatu. Ketika penuh, Red Queen akan menyala merah terang sehingga serangan berikutnya akan dahsyat. Kita dapat men-charge nya bila terdapat sela waktu, lumayan untuk mempersingkat waktu membasmi musuh :D. Demon Bringer dapat digunakan dengan menekan tombol B. Nero dapat menangkap musuhnya dan kemudian melemparnya dengan berbagai variasi tergantung musuhnya. Cocok untuk melawan musuh yg lincah dan dapat terbang. Untuk menentukan target musuh, kita dapat menekan RT (Right Trigger) lalu memencet B. Apabila dibarengi dengan serangan pedang dan serangan revolver Blue Rose akan menghasilkan kombo yang sangat keren. Selain untuk menyerang, tangan kanan Nero digunakan untuk menggapai tempat-tempat tertentu yg tidak dapat dilewati dengan meloncat.

~~~Karakter~~~

Nero, sang protagonis baru di serial DMC, memiliki sebuah pedang unik yang memiliki gagang seperti grip motor yang bisa diputar dan dinamakan Red Queen. Gagang ini apabila diputar akan membuat Red Queen menyala merah terang, dan sebuah senjata revolver berlaras ganda yg bernama Blue Rose. Tangan kanan Nero terlihat seperti tangan iblis milik Allen Walker (serial anime D.Gray Man) dan menyala biru dan ungu. Tangan kanannya disebut Demon Bringer dan memiliki kekuatan melebihi manusia. Nero dapat menarik musuh dan melemparnya dengan mudah menggunakan tangan kanannya ini. Nero memiliki rambut putih menyerupai Dante dan mengenakan kostum berupa celana jeans biru, jaket biru yang panjang, dan rompi merah. Setelah sebuah event di cerita, Nero akan memiliki transformasi Devil Trigger seperti Dante. Yaitu sebuah versi power-up Nero dengan sesosok roh iblis yang melayang-layang di atas dirinya dan dapat menggunakan pedang katana baru yg bernama Yamato. Kita dapat menggunakan pedang Yamato tersebut ketika Nero berubah menjadi sosok roh iblis.

~~~Kualitas Grafik dan Suara~~~

Sebuah kata yang akan terucap tanpa sadar ketika memainkan game ini adalah ‘WOW.’ Grafik yang disuguhkan oleh Capcom sangat memukau. Capcom benar-benar memberi sebuah rekreasi untuk mata Anda. Detail dari lingkungan sangat bagus, animasi pertempuran sangat luwes dan tampil tanpa cacat. Udah gitu, desain levelnya sangat menakjubkan, dari kota yang hancur, gurun salju, hingga istana megah, dipadu dengan efek pencahayaan yang harus diberi 2 jempol. Framerate sangat stabil dan hampir tidak menemukan lag. Waktu loading antara tempat-tempat juga sangat minim. Tetapi terkadang kontrol menjadi aneh ketika berpindah dari tempat yang free-camera ke fixed-camera.

Seperti game-game terdahulunya, OST DMC 4 tidak mengecewakan. Dari intro kita sudah disuguhkan dengan lagu ‘Drink it Down’ karya L’Arc-en-Ciel.Musik latar yang digunakan sangat sesuai dengan lingkungan dan suasana. Suara musik terkesan mencekam bakal menyelimuti Anda ketika sedang menyusuri lorong-lorong, tapi apabila suara musiknya berubah menjadi ke genre Metal keras berarti menandakan musuh akan muncul.

Devil May Cry benar-benar game yg sangat cocok bagi anda penggemar action. Dan puzzle tertentu yg membutuhkan pemikiran cermat agar tidak salah langkah.

Official website: DevilMayCry.com

Narasumber: Jagogame.com

Fuera del Tokio Game Show SEGA sigue siendo noticia, y es que uno de los juegos occidentales más esperados de la compañía japonesa y desarrollado por Obsidian ha estrenado web.

Alpha Protocol es uno de los dos juegos que esta desarrollando la compañía para SEGA junto a Aliens RPG.

En la estrenada web (de momento solo en ingles) se pueden ver las imágenes ya mostradas de este titulo en ferias como el E3 o la GC, pero anuncia que próximamente habrá un trailer oficial.

Web: Alpha Protocol
Imagen: Obsidian

That's all!!!!

See Ya,

Snash1338

For those of you still unsure as to whether or not you have machines capable of running Fallout 3.  YouGamers.com has integrated the released specs into their benchmarking tool.  It'll install a small Java applet that will assess your system, compare it to the specs furnished by BethSoft and report back to you on whether or not your machine is up to snuff.  Give it a shot and then head on over to NewEgg to fill in the gaps where need be.

Das sagte Lenovo-Chef Bill Amelio dem Magazin «Euro am Sonntag». Auf Informationen des Magazins, zunächst wolle Fujitsu die Anteile am Gemeinschaftsunternehmen von Siemens übernehmen und dann die Endkunden-Sparte an Lenovo weiterreichen, wollte Amelio nicht eingehen.

Ein Sprecher von Siemens wollte den Bericht auf Anfrage nicht kommentieren. «Derzeit gibt es zu FSC nichts Neues zu sagen.» FSC ist ein Gemeinschaftsunternehmen von Siemens und dem japanischen Fujitsu-Konzern. Der Joint-Venture-Vertrag ist bis 2009 befristet und wird automatisch verlängert, wenn bis dahin keiner der beiden Partner aussteigt. Mehreren Presseberichten zufolge wollen die Münchner ihr Engagement bei FSC nicht verlängern. Siemens hat dies bislang nicht kommentiert.

Neben Fujitsu selbst war in den vergangenen Wochen immer wieder Lenovo als Interessent für den 50-prozentigen Anteil von Siemens an Fujitsu Siemens gehandelt worden. Analysten schätzen den Wert des größten europäischen Computer - Herstellers auf rund eine Milliarde Euro.

Quelle: DPA/Yahoo