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While speaking at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco yesterday, AMD's Samuel Naffziger revealed more details on AMD's upcoming Llano core which fuses graphics processing on the CPU. Naffziger also blogs on the topic here, revealing several key innovations on the power management front, which I've copied here:
Core power gating – a feature of the processor that disconnects power to the core when it’s not in use, helping to reduce overall power consumption and extend battery life. AMD’s SOI process allows us to use more efficient NFET transistors for power gating as opposed to the PFET transistors used with a bulk silicon manufacturing process. In addition, AMD uses the actual chip package to re-distribute the gated ground rather than an additional thick metal layer used by other gating schemes. In total, this equates to a greater than 90% estimated reduction in leakage power.
Digital APM Module – Measuring core power consumption is extremely important for a processor to understand how hot it’s running and when performance can be increased within a thermal constraint. There are two schools of thought here: measure temperature and amps via analog methods, or measure power consumption digitally. The former is subject to a variety of environmental issues (temperature in the room, dust on the fan, etc.), while the latter is more accurate and repeatable. AMD has implemented a digital power management technique that allows us to measure power consumption more accurately, thus helping to optimize performance-per-watt in real-time.
De-Populated Clock Grid – Clock gating is a technique where the clock signal is combined with a control signal to either enable or disable the clock for certain parts of the circuit. This helps save power by effectively shutting down portions of a digital circuit when they are not in use and is used extensively in AMD’s x86 core. An effective way to get this clock signal to every part of a chip that needs it, with the lowest skew, is a metal grid. In a large microprocessor, the power used to drive the clock signal can be over 30% of the total power used by the entire chip. We’ve been able to dramatically reduce the amount of metal and buffering in this system to reduce clock switching power by an estimated factor of 2.
AMD also confirmed that the first Llano parts will arrive in notebooks first, with the CPU showing up in their "Sabine" platform for mainstream notebooks in 2011. Llano will be a quad-core part, with a DX11 graphics core integrated on die. Each core will measure 9.69 square millimeters (minus L2 cache) and consists of 35 million transistors, with 1MB of L2 cache per core.
This morning Ubisoft announces Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for release by the end of the year:
LONDON – February 9, 2010 – Today Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy™’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier™ is in development at Ubisoft’s Paris studio and is scheduled to be released worldwide Holiday 2010.
Created by the award-winning team behind Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter® and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter® 2, the game will feature cutting-edge technology, prototype high-tech weaponry, and state-of-the-art single-player and multiplayer modes. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will go beyond the core Ghost Recon franchise and deliver a fresh gameplay experience, with an unparalleled level of quality that will excite long-time fans and newcomers alike.
Ubisoft is offering gamers a chance to be the first to play Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Multiplayer Beta this summer 2010. This exclusive beta invitation will be available for a limited time to customers who purchase Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, which releases on 16 April 2010.
For ongoing updates about Tom Clancy™’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, please visit: www.GhostRecon.com
As you can see, the original PR doesn't mention any platforms other than Xbox 360, but Ubisoft confirmed via Twitter that Future Solider will be ported to PS3 and 360, with news of a PC version "coming later", so it sounds like this game will eventually hit PCs also, but with a later release date than the consoles.
NVIDIA announces their Optimus switchable graphics technology for notebooks, which offers automatic transitions from the notebooks' IGP to its dedicated GPU (i.e. you no longer have to physically press a button to switch between IGP and GPU):
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Feb. 9, 2010— NVIDIA Corp., today announced NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology, a breakthrough for notebook PCs that chooses the best graphics processor for running a given application and automatically routes the workload to either an NVIDIA discrete GPU or Intel integrated graphics – delivering great performance while also providing great battery life.
“Consumers no longer have to choose whether they want great graphics performance or sustained battery life,” said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook products at NVIDIA. “NVIDIA Optimus gives them both - great performance, great battery life and it simply works.”
Just as a Hybrid car chooses between the gas-powered and electric car engine on-the-fly and uses the most appropriate engine, NVIDIA Optimus technology does the same thing for graphics processors. NVIDIA Optimus Technology instantly directs the workload through the most efficient processor for the job, extending battery life by up to 2 times compared to similarly configured systems equipped with discrete graphics processors (GPUs). When playing 3D games, running videos, or using GPU compute applications the high-performance NVIDIA discrete GPU is used. When using basic applications, like web surfing or email, the integrated graphics processor is used. The result is long lasting battery life without sacrificing great graphics performance.
“The genius of NVIDIA Optimus is in its simplicity,” said Dr. Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Research, a pioneer of the graphics industry and a leading analyst. “One can surf the web and get great battery life and when one needs the extra horsepower for applications like Adobe Flash 10.1, Optimus automatically switches to the more powerful NVIDIA GPU.”
Notebooks with NVIDIA Optimus technology will be available shortly, starting with the Asus UL50Vf, N61Jv, N71Jv, N82Jv, and U30Jc notebooks. For more information on NVIDIA Optimus technology visit the NVIDIA Website at http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html.
The Radeon 5570 fuses ATI's 400-shader Redwood graphics core with a low-profile board design, giving you the guts of the 5670 in a package that's similar to the 5450. How does the final product compare to ATI's other sub-$100 offerings, as well as the GeForce 9600 GT and Radeon 4670. You'll have to read today's article to find out!
It turns out that you may not be able to transfer your Mass Effect 2 save games into Mass Effect 3 when it's released. In an interview with Game Informer, BioWare's Casey Hudson explains the one scenario that would prevent you from importing your ME2 save game into ME3. In the process though, a spoiler is revealed, so I won't quote him here. Click this link for the full explanation.
It's not the X-Wing vs TIE Fighter revival everyone's been hoping for, but the LEGO series has been a huge seller for LucasArts:
LONDON, UK – 8th February, 2010 – LucasArts and TT Games today announced the development of LEGO® Star Wars™ III: The Clone Wars™. The next chapter in the award-winning LEGO® Star Wars videogame franchise, LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will combine the best elements of all previous LEGO® games while adding brand new gameplay to make it the most action-packed LEGO® videogame to date. Developed by the same team at Traveller’s Tales that created the critically acclaimed LEGO® Star Wars and LEGO® Indiana Jones™ series, the game will ship on the Wii™, Nintendo DS™, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Xbox 360®videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows in the Autumn of 2010.
“LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO® Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humour and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.”
“LucasArts is an amazing partner, and working with them on the next iteration of the LEGO® Star Wars series continues to be a great experience,” said Tom Stone, director at TT Games. “The team at TT is working hard at making this simply the best LEGO® game ever with all new gameplay and features never before seen in a LEGO® game.”
LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will include all the characters from both seasons of the hugely popular animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as some fan-favourite characters from the beloved theatrical Star Wars Saga. The game will feature brand new battle modes, giving players unique, head-to-head combat and an upgraded level builder, allowing the creation of customized bases and in-game battlefields. Play either as a Jedi or Separatist with all-new character abilities, such as Squad command, Lightsaber slicing, Lightsaber jumps, long distance Jedi attacks and Grapple Tie-Ups, all within a new, easy-to-navigate hub.
For more information on LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars please visit www.legostarwars.com.
ATI has issued new hotfix drivers to resolve the gray screen issue some Radeon 5800 users have reported.
In case you didn't know, some Radeon 5800 users have run into issues where their computer will lock up, with the video card display a gray screen. ATI says their hotfix driver: "Alleviates some of the intermittent grey screen and vertical line corruptions that may randomly appear during normal usage when using an ATI™ Radeon HD 5800 series graphics card"
Enthusiasts on a budget hoping for a sub-$250 Radeon 5800 card will apparently have to wait a little longer for the Radeon HD 5830 to debut. Fudzilla believes shipments could be delayed until February 20th. Cards wouldn't be launched until after that date, and retail availability wouldn't occur until March.
A Gamerscore blog post from Microsoft's Marc Whitten reveals that MSFT plans to shutter Xbox LIVE service for the original Xbox on April 15. This includes Xbox games playable on the 360 and Xbox Originals. Here's the post in its entirety:
Dear Xbox LIVE Members,
On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying this isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community.
Seven years ago we laid out our vision for the connected console when we launched Xbox LIVE. We believed then that the power of the Internet to connect people would revolutionize living room entertainment. It started with amazing multiplayer games, and we’ve since seen that bet pay off again and again with the launches of Xbox 360, Marketplace, Netflix and powerful social features like Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. None of this would have been possible without the success of LIVE as a multiplayer gaming network.
There’s no greater example of the power of the Xbox LIVE community than the “Halo” franchise. “Halo 2” has had an amazing run on LIVE, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles. It has fundamentally changed the way we play video games. And while it’s difficult to see that run come to an end, the “Halo” franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with “Halo 3,” “Halo 3: ODST” and soon “Halo: Reach” on Xbox 360.
Your Xbox LIVE community has grown to 23 million strong. And as we look down the road, we’ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games. We will contact the Xbox LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process.
We’ll share more details soon, but in the meantime I want to assure you that the best is yet to come for Xbox LIVE. I believe we’ll look back on 2010 as a landmark year in gaming and home entertainment, and I couldn’t be more excited about what we have in store with “Project Natal” and LIVE. The LIVE community is the driving force behind everything we do, and it’s because of the community that ground-breaking experiences on Xbox continue to be possible.
UPDATE: A few of the gaming sites are hinting that today's Xbox LIVE news could allow Microsoft to increase LIVE's friend cap, which currently is limited to a max of 100 friends. Microsoft obviously isn't making those promises though.
Bethesda has announced that Fallout: New Vegas will ship this autumn for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360:
February 4, 2010 (London, UK) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that Fallout®: New Vegas™, the next chapter in the critically-acclaimed Fallout franchise, will be available in Autumn 2010. The game is currently in development at Obsidian Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows. The first trailer, which provides new insight into the game, is now available at fallout.bethsoft.com.
Fallout: New Vegas, the follow-up to Fallout® 3 – the 2008 Game of the Year – brings this beloved franchise to a location only Fallout could do justice: Vegas. Fallout: New Vegas takes all the action, humor, and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes.
To view the Fallout: New Vegas trailer and for more information on the game, please visit the official Fallout site: fallout.bethsoft.com. Fallout: New Vegas will be featured in magazine cover stories around the world in the month of February. Check the official site for updated details.
The Steam demo for Aliens vs Predator is now available for download. The multiplayer demo consists of one map -- Refinery -- with all three species available. Unfortunately, the demo appears to be limited to the game's DX9 codepath, DX11 graphics options aren't provided. Grab it now before Steam goes down for maintenance later today.
While I was busy preparing the Cedar article yesterday, Intel disclosed more info on Gulftown, their upcoming 6-core CPU for desktops.
For starters, Intel revealed that Gulftown crams 1.17 billion transistors into a die that's 240 square millimeters. In comparison, today's Core i7-965 measures in at 263mm2 with 731 million transistors. Intel's new 32-nm manufacturing process gets credit for the smaller die.
Intel also managed to integrate a few tweaks into Gulftown. For instance, support for DDR3-1333 memory has been added. Bloomfield CPUs are officially limited to a max speed of 1066MHz. Gulftown will also add support for lower voltage 1.35V DDR3 memory modules, in addition to supporting 1.5V modules. To speed up encryption, Intel has also added support for their AES-NI instructions first introduced earlier this year when Clarkdale debuted.
As the rumors have suggested, Intel confirmed that Gulftown will boast 12MB of L3 cache. With two additional processing cores onboard, the added cache is needed to keep all six cores fed with data. Intel also revealed that quad-core Gulftown derivatives will also be released. Rather than manufacture a purpose-built 4-core part, two of Gulftown's cores will be disabled to deliver these quad-core CPUs.
Unfortunately, no info on clock speeds or pricing was mentioned, but its expected that the Core i7-980X will debut sometime next month at speeds of 3.33GHz.
With prices ranging from $49-$59, ATI's Radeon 5450 brings DX11 and Eyefinity to the entry-level price bracket for the first time. But how does it perform? Find out in today's article!
Looks like those rumors of a demo for SEGA/Rebellion's Aliens vs Predator were accurate, as today SEGA confirmed that a multiplayer demo will be released tomorrow for PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as Steam for PC gamers:
LONDON AND SAN FRANCISCO (February 3rd, 2010) – SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. can today reveal that an online multiplayer demo will be released for the upcoming FPS action sci-fi title, Aliens vs Predator. The demo will be released simultaneously on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and STEAM on February 4th.
The multiplayer demo will allow gamers the chance to play as all three species – the Colonial Marine, the Predator and the Alien – and pitch their skills against each other in Deathmatch mode on Refinery, one of the game’s multiplayer maps.
“The team at Rebellion has created a truly immersive multiplayer experience with three completely different and compelling playable species. We believe that Aliens vs Predator offers gamers a unique alternative to the current FPS multiplayer games on the market, and sets a precedent for the evolution of multiplayer gaming in the genre,” said Gary Knight, European Marketing Director of SEGA Europe.
“Multiplayer was a huge part of our original AVP game back in 1999, and we’ve kept the spirit of that classic experience in creating the multiplayer for our new Aliens vs Predator. With the demo now gamers can get to grips with each of the three iconic species so they can hone their skills and be ready for when the game launches and battle commences,” said Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director of Rebellion.
Aliens vs Predator allows players to take the role of each of the three infamous species; the Colonial Marine, the Predator and the Alien. Each of the three species has its very own distinct story-driven single-player campaign mode that interweaves with the campaigns of the other two species.
Aliens vs Predator also features unique 3-way online multiplayer, giving gamers the chance to pit the three species against each other in the ultimate battle for survival and for the right to be crowned the deadliest species. Aliens vs Predator has seven multiplayer modes in total: Infestation, Survivor, Predator Hunt, Domination, Deathmatch, Species Deathmatch and Mix Species Deathmatch.
Aliens vs Predator is set to be released on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC Games For Windows on February 16th in America and February 19th in Europe.
For more information please visit www.sega.com/avp.
Already available to Xbox 360 and PC gamers (beta only), today DICE announced that the Port Valdez demo will be released for PSN tomorrow:
Stockholm, Sweden – February 3, 2010 – DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system players in North America will now have access to the Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 demo* on February 4. Available via the PlayStation®Network, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has been recognized by critics worldwide for its incredibly detailed, huge sandbox environments, vehicular warfare, destruction, and squad play. Its dedicated servers that allow for smooth, seamless online play help it stand above the competition.
The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo features Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players can compete against each other in the game’s Rush multiplayer mode. Players have access to five land and three air vehicles including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight is also packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be in stores on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 4, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation 3 and the PC. The Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now on all platforms at no extra cost, with participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last).
For more information on DICE, please visit www.dice.se. For more information on the Battlefield franchise please visit: www.battlefield.com. Or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OfficialBFBC2.
Earlier this week we mentioned rumors that Intel was prepping a Core i7-970 for release soon. At the time, Fudzilla didn't know if the processor would be based on Intel's upcoming 32-nm Gulftown core, or if it would be an extension of Bloomfield.
Now the site is saying that the i7-970 will indeed be based on Gulftown, with six processing cores and a 3.2GHz clock speed. Max frequency with Turbo Mode is 3.46GHz, and TDP is 130W. Fudzilla believes the CPU will ship in Q3 of this year.
A video has surfaced on Youtube that supposedly comes from Duke Nukem Forever. The clip is blurry, and most of it is set in dark indoor environments, making it tough to pick out every detail, but the limited amount of footage shown is pretty action packed:
Prices on Alienware's most portable gaming notebook, the 4.5-pound M11x, will start at $799. For $800 you'll get a Pentium SU4100 CPU clocked at 1.3GHz with 2MB of cache, 2GB of DDR3-800 system RAM, an 11.6" 1366x768 (720p) LED-backlit display with GeForce GT 335M graphics and 1GB of video memory, 160GB 5400 RPM HDD, and 1.3MP webcam.
Upping to 4GB of RAM will cost you another $50, while a faster 250GB 7200RPM HDD will also go for $50.
The system can be ordered in two color configurations: black with red trim, or black with silver trim, and like it's bigger brothers, the M11x is decked out in configurable LED lighting, including a fully backlit keyboard. Alienware boasts that the system can run for up to 8.5 hours when running on its Intel integrated graphics.
To keep the size and weight of the system down, Alienware ships the M11x without an optical drive. Fortunately, that can be quickly remedied with an external USB drive, but gamers on the go will want to rely on a digital download service like Steam or Direct2Drive for their portable gaming needs.
NVIDIA has determined a name for their next-generation high-end DirectX 11 GPU. The first graphics cards based on their GF100 architecture will be named the GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470. From NVIDIA's facebook page:
NVIDIA Fun Fact of the Week: GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470 will be the names of the first two GPUs shipped based on our new GF100 chip!
NVIDIA still hasn't disclosed the specs or configuration for the new GeForce 400 series cards, but it's likely that the 470 will ship at slower clocks and with fewer active shading units.
It's quite surprising to see NVIDIA skip the 300 series designation completely with their latest GPUs. Some will inevitably say this gives them room to rename existing GPUs as higher-spec 300 series cards.
Intel and Microsoft announce their joint development of 25-nm NAND flash:
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BOISE, Idaho, Feb. 1, 2010 -- Intel Corporation and Micron Technology, Inc. today announced the world's first 25-nanometer (nm) NAND technology, which provides a more cost-effective path for increasing storage capacity in such popular consumer gadgets as smartphones, personal music and media players (PMPs), as well as the new high-performance class of solid-state drives (SSDs).
NAND flash memory stores data and other media contained in consumer electronics products, retaining information even when the power is turned off. The drive toward smaller NAND processes enables the continued development and introduction of new uses for the technology. Not only is the 25nm process the smallest NAND technology, it is also the smallest semiconductor technology in the world – a technological accomplishment that continues the advancement of more music, video, and other data in today's consumer electronics and computing applications.
Manufactured by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), Intel and Micron's NAND flash joint venture, the 25nm process produces 8 gigabytes (GB) of storage in a single NAND device, creating a high-capacity storage solution for today's tiny consumer gadgets. It measures just 167mm2 -- small enough to fit through the hole in the middle of a compact disc (CD), yet packs more than 10 times the data capacity of that CD (a standard CD holds 700 megabytes of data).
With a committed focus and investment in NAND research and development, Intel and Micron have doubled NAND density roughly every 18 months, which leads to smaller, more cost-efficient and higher capacity products. IMFT started production with a 50nm process in 2006, followed by a 34nm process in 2008. With today's 25nm process, the companies are extending their process and fabrication leadership further with the introduction of the smallest semiconductor lithography available in the industry.
"To lead the entire semiconductor industry with the most advanced process technology is a phenomenal feat for Intel and Micron, and we look forward to further pushing the scaling limits," said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron's memory group. "This production technology will enable significant benefits to our customers through higher density media solutions."
"Through our continued investment in IMFT, we're delivering leadership technology and manufacturing that enable the most cost-effective and reliable NAND memory," said Tom Rampone, vice president and general manager, Intel NAND Solutions Group. "This will help speed the adoption of solid-state drive solutions for computing."
The 25nm, 8GB device is sampling now and is expected to enter mass production in the second quarter of 2010. For consumer electronics manufacturers, the device provides the highest-density in a single 2 bits-per-cell multi-level cell (MLC) die that will fit an industry-standard, thin small-outline package (TSOP). Multiple 8GB devices can be stacked in a package to increase storage capacity. The new 25nm 8GB device reduces chip count by 50 percent compared to previous process generations, allowing for smaller, yet higher density designs and greater cost efficiencies. For example, a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) can now be enabled with just 32 of these devices (versus 64 previously), a 32GB smartphone needs just four, and a 16GB flash card requires only two.
BioWare's latest chapter in the Mass Effect series has earned overwhelmingly positive praise on consoles, but is the game still enjoyable on the PC? Find out in today's review!
Fudzilla believes Intel's next-generation "Sandy Bridge" CPUs will arrive in Q1'2011. Sandy Bridge will utilize Intel's new 32-nm process and Fudzilla expects it will bring better graphics integration along with improved performance when it's launched next year. Fudzilla also expects Intel will initially offer chips in dual and quad-core variants -- six-core CPUs won't come until later.
In other Intel news, the site also expects Intel to introduce a Core i7-970 this year. It's unknown if the chip will be based on Intel's 32-nm Westmere core, or if it will be another Bloomfield derivative. The latest rumors suggest that the Core i7-980X will arrive sometime next month.
Both AMD and Intel are expected to release their first 6-core desktop CPUs before the end of Q2 this year. Now DigiTimes says that Intel will be going first, with their 32-nm Core i7-980X "Gulftown" CPU shipping at the end of March.
DigiTimes says AMD will roll out 3 six-core "Thuban" CPUs, the Phenom II X6 1075T, 1055T and 1035T, with a quad-core Phenom II X4 960T CPU also coming out at the same time as the Thuban processors. It's believed AMD will launch the CPUs in May.
Before Thuban launches though, AMD will introduce their first 8-series chipsets, with the 890FX and 890GX chipsets expected to debut in April.
DICE announces that both the PC beta and an Xbox 360 demo will begin today:
Stockholm, Sweden - January 28, 2010 - DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that first-person shooter fans will get early access to the best-in-class online war experience in Battlefield: Bad CompanyTM 2. Players can now download a free* console demo worldwide on Xbox LIVETM Marketplace. A PC beta would also be available to players that pre-order** the game at participating retailers in North America, Europe and Asia, and through select community channels at 6pm CET today. On February 4th, the demo will be accessible on the PlayStation®Network in Europe and on February 11th in North America. Defined by its increasingly intense vehicular warfare, destruction, variety of weapons and huge sandbox environments, Battlefield Bad Company 2 promises to be one of the finest online FPS games of 2010.
"After the success of the PS3 beta, we're excited to provide gamers -- especially our long-supporting, rabidly passionate PC fans -- with another opportunity to get into the game before release," says Patrick Bach, Senior Producer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. "Our fans have been a huge part of the franchise's success and we can't wait for everyone to experience the amazing gameplay and unforgettable Battlefield moments in Battlefield: Bad Company 2."
The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 console demo and PC beta will feature Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players (32 on PC) will compete against each other as either the US or Russian armies in the game's Rush multiplayer mode. Players will have access to five land and three air vehicles where the Russian side can use everything in their arsenal including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight will also be packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be in stores on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 4, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the PC. The Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now on all platforms at no extra cost, with participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last).
* Internet connection and Xbox LIVE Gold membership required. Demo will end on February 25, 2010.
** Available at participating retailers in North America, Europe and Asia. Offer and codes expires February 25, 2010.
A new gameplay trailer from the Port Valdez demo was also released this morning:
BioShock 2's just a few weeks away from hitting PS3, PC, and Xbox 360, with the game shipping on 2/9. Unfortunately when it hits, it will lack support for LAN play, as well as dedicated servers according to this FAQ on The Cult of Rapture:
Do you support LAN play on consoles or PC? Do you support dedicated servers?
Short answer, no and no. There is always a finite amount of time for the development of a game. Bringing Multiplayer to BioShock was a daunting task between the tech (there was no multiplayer support in the codebase from the first game) and the expectations of the community. Either you try to do everything and so nothing feels finished or you focus your efforts to do a smaller number of things really well like an accessible online experience. We chose to spend the time we had creating a solid game foundation and unfortunately that did not include LAN play or dedicated servers.
This post on the Battlefield blog describes the DRM scheme DICE has implemented for the PC version of Bad Company 2. Unfortunately it appears they've taken a step back in comparison to EA releases from last year, with BC2 relying on SecuROM DRM for activation. Interestingly enough, you can play the game on an unlimited number of machines as long as you keep the DVD in the drive, however if you don't, SecuROM will be used for online authentication, which you can run for up to 10 PCs:
SecuROM and the final game
The final game will also use SecuROM. The main game executable (BFBC2Game.exe) will be wrapped with SecuROM. Some support files in the game’s installation directory also belong to SecuROM.
When you install or start the game, you will be required to authenticate the copy of the game. That is how you prove that the installation of the game you are running is legit.
You can do that in two ways: by putting the original DVD in the drive, or by going online once. If you bought the game on disc, you get to choose; if you have purchased it digitally, your only option is going online.
Authentication by DVD
You can authenticate by putting the DVD in the drive.
If you choose this method, you must have the DVD available every time you want to play. With this method, SecuROM will not go online at all. You can then play the single-player campaign 100% offline.
Authentication by going online
You can also choose to authenticate by going online once.
If so, this happens the first time that you start the actual game. You will be asked for permission. If you allow it, SecuROM will talk to a master server, which counts on how many computers your serial key is currently in use.
When the installation has been authenticated online once, SecuROM will no longer go online. You can then play the single-player campaign 100% offline, without needing the DVD. Also, you can play multiplayer online without needing the DVD.
You can have the game authenticated on up to 10 machines at the same time.
One authentication is valid for 10,000 days. Thus, if you authenticated once on launch day - March 2nd, 2010 – that authentication will be valid until July 18th, 2037.
Online authentication … what about de-authentication?
You can de-authenticate the game. De-authentication means to return one authentication to the “pool” of available activations (which started with 10 available).
You do it one of two ways:
In the Games Explorer in Vista: right-click on the game’s Icon and select “Deauthorize this machine”
Uninstall the game; uninstallation will automatically invoke the de-authentication process.
After de-authentication, you are told how many authentications are now in the “pool”.
SecuROM needs to go online to de-authenticate.
For those of you hoping to circumvent SecuROM by purchasing BC2 via Steam, bad news, as DICE plans to implement the same system for digital distribution services like Steam. Adding new hardware could also take away an activation. All this and more is discussed in the blog post. (Spotted on Blues News)
With just a few days left in the first month of 2010, today ATI released their first Catalyst driver of the year, promising performance improvements for Radeon 5700 and Radeon 5800 users in Crysis and Left 4 Dead 2:
Highlights of the ATI Catalyst™ 10.1 Windows release include:
Performance improvements
Left 4 Dead 2 – Overall performance improves as much as 3% on ATI Radeon™ HD 5700 series products and ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series products
Crysis – Performance improves as much as 3% on ATI Radeon™ HD 5700 series products and as much as 4% on ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series products
High-lights of Resolved Issues
[Catalyst Control Center] The display order will now reflect changes properly when Eyefinity is re-arranged while desktop is rotated to portrait mode
Hot unplugging one of the displays in an Eyefinity configuration no longer causes rotation modes to disappear from Catalyst Control Center
[Catalyst Control Center] Enabling LCD Overdrive will no longer cause mouse cursor to magnify when moved overtop of the "Calibration Preview"
Firefox now works properly and video no longer drop frames when playing Youtube clips with Adobe Flash Player 10
[Catalyst Control Center] Newly added custom modes will now appear properly in desktop area tree view
Confirmation dialogue window will now appear when setting up Eyefinity mode
120 Hz is no longer missing from display modes for specific digital displays
Overscan/underscan issue no longer occurs when setting displays to HDTV modes
Performance drop no longer observed during some scenes of Resident Evil 5cinematics
Blocky grass and trees no longer visible in Unigine "Heaven" in OpenGL mode
Earlier this week it was revealed that all Ubisoft PC releases going forward would shift to Valve's Steamworks service for copy protection, game saves, and more. Now Ubisoft has issued an online FAQ that provides more details on the system. Citing perks such as no disc required to play the game, installs on an unlimited number of machines, and save games stored both on and offline.
And the downsides? An Internet connection will be required at all times, you won't be able to resell games, online registration with ubi.com is required.
ATI's launch of the Radeon HD 5830 has apparently been postponed due to an issue found during the validation phase of testing, says DigiTimes. The site quotes graphics makers as their source, who say that circuits on the board triggered an error. ATI has supposedly retrieved the boards from board partners for further testing.
No word on when the 5830 will be released now. ATI stressed that there's no issue with the existing Radeon 5000 series cards that are already on the market.
One week ago today NVIDIA posted WHQL-certified ForceWare 196.21 drivers to their website. Problem is that driver included a bug that prevented GPU overclocking. Doh!
NVIDIA's been working hard to resolve this issue, and has just issued new ForceWare 196.34 drivers that fix the problem. Unfortunately the drivers are beta -- it can take weeks to obtain WHQL certification -- but at least you'll be able to OC your GPU again.
