Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, it does. As Ars Technica explains, Infinity Ward answers PC gamers questions in a Best Buy Online chat, and the news from the discussion isn't pretty. Infinity Ward confirmed that the PC port of the game is limited to a maximum of 18 players, so 9v9 matches only.

This led one gamer to respond: "Please explain how a 9v9 match is a multiplayer experience? I'd have more fun serving lunch at a local nursing home." Infinity Ward responded back:

"Sounds like are a very compassionate and giving person. I hope the people at the nursing home appreciate you."

But it doesn't stop there. The game won't support field-of-view (FOV) and other adjustments like weapon damage. To this, Infinity Ward responded: "We would like you to play the game the way we designed and balanced it." Infinity Ward also confirmed that leaning won't be supported, nor will you be able to make your own demo recordings (/record has been present in every CoD game up to now). In fact, the game lacks support for console commands.

It doesn't stop there though. During the chat IW revealed that the game will automatically pick who hosts the game, if the host quits, there's a 5-second delay for the game to pick a new host. The host will have a ping advantage, although IW says this will be mitigated through software. Players won't be able to kick cheaters, instead IW believes they'll be able to stop cheaters by banning them.

When asked if the PC version was a direct console port, IW responded: "No, PC has custom stuff like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings." Of all the responses, I found this one the most hilarious. I really hope IW doesn't consider the ability to adjust mouse control and your screen resolution "custom stuff". I'm pretty sure every game released in the last few decades for PC has supported these features.

Looks like Modern Warfare 2 isn't the only AAA title that lacks support for dedicated servers. id Software's upcoming shooter RAGE falls in that category also.

In an interview with Variety, John Carmack confirms that id has no plans to support dedicated servers either: “It’s not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don’t think we will have dedicated servers,”

Variety says Carmack likened dedicated servers to a remnant of the early days of PC gaming.

Carmack also confirmed that RAGE appears to be on track for a release in 2010: “It’s looking realistic,” says Carmack. “We are on a crunch right now to do presentations for console first party manufacturers, so things are cooking along well for ‘Rage’. ‘Doom 4’ is obviously a bit further out.” (Spotted on Blues News)

Thanks to higher revenues in core business segments and improved gross margin, NVIDIA managed to earn $107.6 million last quarter on revenues of $903.2 million. That's a revenue increase of 16% from Q2, and up slightly from 2008. "We continued to make progress in the third quarter with healthy market demand across the board," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer, NVIDIA. "Revenue was up from a year ago, with improvement in each of our PC, professional solutions and consumer businesses. It’s great to see us shipping orders with our Tegra mobile-computing solution, and growing enthusiasm for our Tesla platform for parallel computing in the server and cloud-computing markets."

Analysts expected NVIDIA to bring in $838.1 million in revenues during Q3, so their numbers blew by Wall Street projections. Going forward, NVIDIA expects revenues for Q4 to improve by 2%.

In a blog posting from earlier this week, DICE reveals their plans for Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta. PS3 gamers will get their hands on it first, followed by PC in December:

Starting 19 November 2009, PS3 gamers will be able to experience the unprecedented action, destruction, vehicular warfare, squad play and open sandbox environments that only Battlefield can deliver.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta will feature the Arica Harbour map, where up to 24 players can compete in one of the game’s four intense multiplayer modes called Rush. This new map displays a superb balance of vehicle and infantry combat, as the American assault unit attacks the Russian army base with full force, advancing further through a beautiful desert town and towards the industrial area in a desperate attempt to overtake the Arica Harbour. Heavy vehicle warfare on the first bases gradually turns into an intense infantry fight as the level progresses, showcasing this best-in-class online war experience.

Gamers can get a taste of this incredibly intense action by a numbers of ways including reserving the game with participating retailers. While supplies last.

How do I get a Beta Key?
For North America - Beta Keys are limited in quantity and will be available through these select partners: Best Buy and Gamestop. Reserve your copy now in stores!

For Europe and Asia - Keep your eyes open for local opportunities!

More details to follow as we continue to announce additional beta key partners next week. Check back our blog for more details.

Not a PS3 Owner?
Coming December, we will invite players to participate in a PC open beta. Then, early next year, all players worldwide will get to experience this premier shooter when we releases a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer DEMO on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 5, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC.

With the game hitting retailers next week, Infinity Ward has released the launch trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (WARNING: trailer contains a pretty surprising spoiler):

BioWare announces the goodies offered inside the Mass Effect 2 collector's edition, which will sell for $59.99 (PC) and $69.99 (Xbox 360) depending on platform:

EDMONTON, Alberta--(Business Wire)--Recruit your crew and fight for the lost! Leading video game developer BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that the internationally acclaimed Shooter RPG Mass Effect 2 will also be released as a Collectors` Edition in limited quantities. Available on January 26 in North America (Jan 29 in EU) alongside the standard edition, the Collectors` Edition of Mass Effect 2 comes in a premium, tin case and includes the full version of the game, a 48-page hardcover "Art of Mass Effect 2" book, Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes and making-of videos. In addition, the Mass Effect 2 Collectors` Edition will include unique in-game weapons and armor that can only be obtained by purchasing this version. With its larger-than-life hero Commander Shepard, intense shooter action, nuanced characters and a rich storyline, Mass Effect 2 is one of the most anticipated titles of 2010.

"We`re really excited to roll out this Collectors` Edition featuring so many unique items, including special Collectors` Edition armor and weapons and content that will surprise Mass Effect fans," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. "The limited edition comic book and bonus DVD will really enhance and expand the overall Mass Effect 2 experience."

The Mass Effect trilogy is an emotionally charged science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, players will once again step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, commanding their crew of some of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it`s potentially suicidal. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich futuristic storyline, space exploration and emotionally engaging character interaction, the game delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience.

Mass Effect 2 will be available on the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system and PC. The Mass Effect 2 Collectors` Edition will retail at an MSRP of $69.99 on Xbox 360 and $59.99 on PC. Mass Effect 2 assets are available at info.ea.com. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/masseffect2. For more information on Mass Effect 2, go to http://masseffect.bioware.com/.

With today's release of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), aspiring game devs no longer need to rely on the dev tools included with Unreal Tournament 3 or Gears of War. Epic also announced that they'll be releasing free UDK updates as well:

CARY, N.C. (November 5, 2009) – Epic Games, Inc. announces the launch of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award-winning toolset like never before. This software release is available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone can start working with the industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset by downloading UDK at www.udk.com, where detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more are also available.

An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world's best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.

There is no charge for noncommercial or educational use of UDK. Over 100 academic campuses currently use Unreal Technology as part of teaching game development-related courses, and colleges with plans to incorporate UDK into their curricula include the University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University, The Art Institute system of schools, Drexel University, Westwood College, DeVry University and Atlantic College, with many others to be announced.

Individuals and companies wishing to develop software for commercial purposes should refer to licensing terms at www.udk.com/licensing. Commercial terms have been structured to make it easy for independent developers, start-up firms and seasoned professionals to use UDK with minimal financial barrier from concept to deployment. UDK is currently for PC use only, although console support is under consideration. Developers approved to make games for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 may inquire for more information by emailing udklicensing@epicgames.com.

Benefits of UDK include the following:

Immediate access to Unreal Engine 3, the critically acclaimed 3D game engine technology for cross-platform game development.

Easy content creation with the Unreal Editor, a fully integrated suite of top-tier development tools, which comes complete with:

1. Unreal Content Browser, a revolutionary tool for browsing, searching and organizing game assets with collaborative metadata tagging system.
2. UnrealScript object-oriented programming language and Unreal Kismet, a visual scripting system that enables rapid prototyping on the fly.
3. Unreal Matinee, a powerful tool with movie director-class controls for building in-game cinematics and gorgeous cut scenes.
4. Unreal Cascade, an advanced particle physics and environmental effects editor that aids the creation of fire, fog, explosions and other visuals.
5. NVIDIA PhysX-powered physics system with Unreal PhAT visual modeling tool for creating character and object physics rigs.
6. Unreal Lightmass, a global illumination system that dramatically lights and shadows with minimal effort required by artists and designers.
7. AnimSet Viewer and AnimTree Editor, which give animators precise control over every muscle and bone movement.

Time saved thanks to technology integrations with leading game development middleware tools including SpeedTree®, Bink Video®, and FaceFX®.

Output of standalone applications: Games created with UDK run entirely on their own with no additional software required. This means anyone can make UDK content and distribute it for free.

"I'm excited about the possibilities the Unreal Development Kit opens to those who are looking to get into the game business but don't otherwise have the means to acquire world-class technology and tools like ours," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "UDK is Unreal Engine 3, which has been used to create games in a wide range of genres, as well as military simulations, 3D architectural walkthroughs, animated movies and more. Users are only limited by their imaginations. Go ahead make something Unreal!"

Psyonix Studios (www.psyonix.com), a game studio based in San Diego, Calif., created the first proof-of-concept game using UDK in less than two months using a two-man team of one artist and one programmer. "Whizzle" is a downloadable vertical scroller in which players swim through underwater levels as an adorable sea creature that collects items and frees allies from captivity. To read more about "Whizzle," view the developer diary video, or download technical documentation, visit www.udk.com/showcase-whizzle.html.

Until now, noncommercial access to the Unreal Engine 3 toolset has been available only through the PC versions of games such as Epic's "Unreal Tournament 3" and "Gears of War" games. Users made new game experiences, called modifications or "mods," by changing existing game assets or creating original content through the Unreal Editor tools that ship with every game copy. Many of these mods have been showcased through the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest (www.makesomethingunreal.com), which awards over $1 million in cash and prizes to aspiring game developers. While mods require running the original game for interaction with user-created content, UDK provides a standalone experience every time, meaning a smaller digital footprint and no additional software requirements.

"The Ball," an award-winning "Unreal Tournament 3" mod by Toltec Studios (www.toltecstudios.com), is available now as a free UDK-powered download at www.udk.com/showcase-the-ball.html. Anyone authoring mods for Epic's PC games can port their original content over to UDK.

Support for UDK includes over 200 pages of newly unlocked documentation at the Unreal Developer Network (udn.epicgames.com), dedicated forums (www.udk.com/forums), as well as other resources available through the UDK web site, www.udk.com. 3D Buzz also hosts hundreds of hours of free video tutorials for using Unreal Engine 3 technology at www.3dbuzz.com.

Furthermore, Sams Publishing and 3D Buzz recently published two definitive guides for learning the Unreal Engine toolset, "Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3" and "Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume II: Advanced Level Design Concepts with Unreal Engine 3." Both books are bundled with a free, downloadable copy of "Unreal Tournament 3" for PC.

As most gamers who own both the Xbox 360 and PS3 can tell you, the Xbox 360 ports tend to run faster than their PS3 counterparts and sometimes even sport better graphics. As a result, these gamers will typically choose the Xbox 360 version over PS3 all things being equal (sometimes games on one platform will have exclusive features, like the playable Joker feature in the PS3 port of Batman:AA).

However, a GamePlan Insights study sent to Gamasutra suggests this may be changing. According to their most recent survey data, 15% of gamers who plan to buy the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed 2 already own the Xbox 360 version of the original Assassin's Creed, while 7% of Xbox 360 gamers who plan to buy the Xbox 360 version own the original game on PS3.

Their data shows the same trend occurring for Modern Warfare 2.

The question is, why is the shift occurring now? Clearly the PS3 has picked up momentum in the last few months, but is this study a reflection of that, or is the study itself flawed in some way? Perhaps gamers still have 360 RRoD lingering in the back of their minds and don't want to risk it?

This Saturday retailer Walmart will offer their Xbox 360 Arcade systems with a $100 eGift card, which you can use for online purchases. You could then potentially use this money to pick up the 120GB hard drive for just $35, or you could use it to buy a couple of games. Walmart warns that quantities of gift cards are limited, each store is supposed to have a minimum of 10 cards on hand, but that's it as far as guarantees are concerned. (Spotted on Kotaku)

After launching their investigation last year, today New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has officially sued Intel for violating state and federal antitrust laws. From the opening of the suit:

Intel has engaged in a systematic worldwide campaign of illegal, exclusionary conduct to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for x86 microprocessors, the “brains” of Personal Computers ("PCs").

By exacting exclusive or near-exclusive agreements from large computer makers (“Original Equipment Manufacturers” or “OEMs”) in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars, and threatening retaliation against any company that did not heed its wishes, Intel robbed its competitors of the opportunity to challenge Intel’s dominance in key segments of the market. This illegal behavior was highly detrimental to consumers, competition, and innovation.

The suit, which weighs in at 87 pages long, seems to be based on much of the same evidence the European Commission brought against Intel. For instance, the suit alleges that Dell received preferential supply of CPUs and deep CPU discounts in return for remaining exclusive with Intel. From page 31 of the suit:

In pure dollar terms, Dell was far and away the leader in receiving Intel’s largess. For example, over the four year period from February 2002 to January 2007, it received approximately $6 billion in “rebates.” Most of this money was furnished to Dell under programs initially titled “MOAP” and then “MCP.” “MOAP” was an acronym standing for “Mother of all Programs.” The term MOAP was later replaced in the lexicon by another acronym “MCP,” which purportedly (and misleadingly) stood for “Meet Competition Payments.” Both generally referred both to Dell’s global percentage based rebates and to lump-sum payments made by Intel to Dell during the relevant period.

Intel attempted to maintain the fiction that such payments were, as the latter phrase was meant to convey, legitimate price cuts in response to particular AMD competitive offers. In fact, the payments were decoupled from particular products. Intel would determine the total MCP percentage or amount for Dell for a given period, and only then create paper work at both Intel and Dell which purported to allocate portions of the total to individual CPU products in order to retroactively “back into” a superficial justification for its anticompetitive conduct.

Intel also assured Dell of “preferred” supply compared with other OEMs. Access to adequate and timely supply of products from Intel was a major concern for all OEMs, whose business was extremely time-sensitive. Internal Intel emails show that satisfying 100% of Dell’s demand was a top priority for Intel, even when demand from other OEMs went unmet. In an October 2005 email, a senior Intel executive acknowledged: “[W]e know supporting Dell <100% [less than 100%] of whatever they ask for is not our working model...”

This is just scratching the surface of the suit though. There are numerous incidents cited with Dell, and other examples from IBM and HP. AMD's own suit against Intel is currently slated to begin in March.

Promising lower power consumption, lower temps, and most importantly for enthusiasts, more OC'ing, AMD is back with a new CPU revision for the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, which now boasts a 125W TDP. Is AMD able to deliver on their promises though? Find out in today's article!

>> Click Here to read the article

The 1-week exclusive access to the Left 4 Dead 2 demo for pre-order customers has expired, as Valve announces general availability of the demo for PC and Xbox LIVE Gold members (Silver users have to wait one more week):

Nov 3, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the availability of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo to all PC gamers via Steam.

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo features gameplay taken from "The Parish" campaign, set in the New Orleans French Quarter. Playable by 1 to 4 players over local or Internet connections, the demo features all the new boss infected zombies and many of the new melee weapons included in the full product.

L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009's marquee titles. Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more.

With the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Adding new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original, featuring more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, new Survival maps, and the new competitive game mode, Scavenge, all available at launch.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

You can download the demo from Steam here

The first wave of the second-generation, non-reference Radeon 5870 cards begins today, as Sapphire's Radeon 5870 Vapor-X officially hits retailers shelves this morning. As I mentioned last week, this board utilizes Sapphire's vapor chamber cooling+heatpipes, and is slightly OC'ed for improved performance. Officially the board is supposed to retail for $399.99, but Newegg currently sells it for $409.99, so a slight $10 markup. Unfortunately, it's already sold out, as you'd expect considering how short supply of Radeon 5800 series cards has been. I've had one of these boards in-house for a little bit now and should have a full review up soon.

Later this week we should see the second 2nd-generation 5870 board debut, PowerColor's liquid-cooled 5870 board, the LCS HD 5870.

In a Variety interview, Warren Spector admits that he tried to purchase the rights to Deus Ex from Eidos. “There were and still are ‘Deus Ex’ stories I would like to tell. That story is not done for me,” he says. “[For the sci-fi game] I sort of filed the serial numbers off. ‘Deus Ex’ was very much a game of the millennium.”

While he was unsuccessful in purchasing Deus Ex rights, Spector is now working with Disney on, of all things, a Mickey Mouse game. Disney now owns the rights to Deus Ex, leaving the door open for Spector to develop the game for Disney. (Spotted on Blues News)

FutureMark, well known for their popular 3DMark benchmarks, is venturing into new territory with Shattered Horizon. This multiplayer shooter is perhaps best known for its system requirements -- the game supports DX10 only -- but there's more underneath the surface of this game than fancy visuals. Is it worth its $20 price tag though? Read Vandy's take inside!

>> Click Here to read the article

NVIDIA's giving away a bundle of goods to 12 lucky winners on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. NVIDIA's equipped a dozen HP Mini 311 netbooks with 320GB hard drive, 3GB memory, Windows 7 Home Premium, and 802.11g with Bluetooth. In addition to the netbook, the giveaway also includes an external Blu-ray player with 3 Blu-ray movies, case, HDMI cable, and $50 credit from Roxio CinemaNow. If that's not enough, the system also comes pre-installed with the following apps:

Total Media Theater 3 with SimHD plug-in by Arcsoft

MediaShow 5 by Cyberlink

Badaboom by Elemental Technologies

vReveal by MotionDSP

The Sims 3 by Electronic Arts

Portal by Valve

Left 4 Dead by Valve

For full contest details, including instructions on how to enter, check out NVIDIA's Ultimate ION giveaway page here.

Hector Ruiz, former AMD CEO and current Chairman of GlobalFoundries, will officially step down from his position in January, and has taken an immediate leave of absence from the company. GlobalFoundries will replace him with current board member Alan Ross. Ross was previously President and CEO of Broadcom.

More details can be found in the following PR.

Citing motherboard manufacturers as their source, DigiTimes reports that AMD has updated their CPU roadmap for the early part of next year. Reportedly AMD will begin phasing out several Phenom II CPUs, including the X4 965, which will be discontinued in Q1'2010 along with the X4 925. DigiTimes says that AMD has stopped taking orders for the X4 910 and 945 and will stop shipping them in Q2'2010.

An 80W X2 555 is expected to be released later this year.

Q2'2010 should be pretty busy for AMD. DigiTimes says AMD plans to introduce a 95W Phenom II 955 chip that quarter, as well as 95W Athlon II X4 640 and Athlon II X2 445 CPUs. AMD will also introduce their first 6-core "Thuban" CPU sometime during the second quarter. The processor will supposedly be clocked at 2.8GHz, with 6 cores and 6MB of L3 cache.

While speaking to analysts and investors during Nintendo's earnings conference call last week, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata acknowledged that the Wii's sales momentum has waned. From Gamespot: "The Wii has stalled. Games of high demand could not be continuously released and the good mood has chilled." Iwata is quoted as saying.

"The mood of the market got colder than expected, and there was a difference in expectations," he said. "Now, we are preparing for next year and thinking about what to do the year after next." Iwata went on to say that he remains optimistic about Wii sales going forward.

Thanks to price cuts from Sony, the PS3 moved ahead of the Xbox 360 and Wii in sales last month. Nintendo responded with a $50 price cut of the their own, but priced at $200, many analysts believe Nintendo didn't go far enough. With just 512MB of memory and an ancient graphics/CPU, Nintendo's probably still making nice profit margins on each Wii console sold.

Some believe Nintendo will respond with a new console in 2010 or 2011, the "Wii HD" as its been called, which will reportedly sport graphics comparable to today's PS3 and Xbox 360. Thanks to process shrinks it certainly wouldn't be difficult for Nintendo to bring an affordable shader model 3.0 console to market, although Nintendo has previously stated that its targeting a new audience for this generation and that it isn't just about graphics anymore -- graphics are "good enough" and the mainstream consumer is more concerned about the gaming experience.

Despite the sales success of the Wii console itself, Nintendo's continuing to struggle with third-party game sales. Nintendo's first-party titles, Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Wii Fit, etc, have all sold well, but third-party titles like Madden have traditionally sold much better on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3. Many analysts believe if Nintendo's Wii sported current-gen graphics, it would be easier for game developers to port over their titles and the hardcore crowd who tend to purchase more games may give the Wii a second look.

I know Yoshi's been preaching in the comments that the Wii's sales would stall for years now. It's interesting (and refreshing) to see that Nintendo is beginning to publicly acknowledge that.

In addition to delivering new ForceWare drivers for GeForce desktop users, last week NVIDIA also released the same ForceWare 195.39 drivers for mobile GeForce users as well. NVIDIA's latest Verde 195 driver for notebooks supports GeForce 8M, 9M, 100M, and 200M-series mobile GPUs, as well as the Quadro NVS and Quadro FX series DX10 notebook GPUs.

Once again these are beta drivers, but NVIDIA is working on obtaining WHQL certification as we speak. NVIDIA wanted to go ahead and roll the driver out now as the WHQL certification process takes a few weeks and the new driver contains bug fixes and SLI profiles for several recently released games, including Borderlands. I'd say this is a must-have driver for mobile GeForce users.

Links:
Windows XP
Windows XP x64
Windows Vista/Windows 7 32-bit
Windows Vista/Windows 7 64-bit

Fudzilla believes NVIDIA will introduce a 40-nm, 96-shader GeForce GT 240 November 17th. The chip, which is intended to replace the GeForce 9600 GT/9600 GSO, will supposedly be paired with 900MHz GDDR3 memory initially, and potentially GDDR5 at some point also. Core and shader clocks aren't mentioned though.

TSMC's woes with the 40-nm process node have continued into Q4. DigiTimes reports that TSMC CEO Morris Chang has acknowledged the issue, and promises to resolve it by the end of the quarter. From the DigiTimes story:

TSMC said it has seen yield rates for its 40nm node drop to 40% due chamber matching issues. Main customers for TSMC's 40nm processes are GPU vendors AMD, which recently launched its new 40nm-based Radeon 5870 series, and Nvidia, who is scheduled to launch its 40nm-based GT300 series of chips in December, according to previous reports. TSMC's recent issues may impact the shipping schedules of the GPU vendors, market watchers commented.

During TSMC's July 2009 investors conference, Chang revealed that yield rates for 40nm processes had improved to 60%, up from as low as 20-30% in the second quarter of 2009.

With TSMC still suffering from these issues, don't expect supplies of Radeon 5850 or 5870 cards to improve anytime soon. Even if they had a solution to the problem today, we wouldn't see the effect for weeks, so if anything supply is only going to get worse as demand increases thanks to the imminent arrival of games like Modern Warfare 2.

This is also going to make life tougher for NVIDIA, who was hoping to have Fermi ready by the end of the year.

As Expreview notes, ATI's dual RV870 GPU Radeon HD 5970 has landed. A site named Alienbabeltech was supplied benchmarks and photos of a prerelease Radeon 5970 engineering sample board that supposedly measured in at 13.5" long. In fact the card was so long, the site notes that they had problems getting it to fit inside a full-sized Antec 1200 tower case.

Rumor has it that the board could be running at just 725MHz core/1GHz memory, but keep in mind that these could be the specs for the 5950, or ATI still may not have the final clock speeds nailed down just yet. Launch is expected to occur sometime in November.

NVIDIA's released new beta ForceWare 195.39 drivers for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200-series desktop GPUs and ION desktop GPUs. The new driver adds SLI support for new games like Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins, FIFA Soccer 2010, Champions: Online and a few other games, and also contains "over 200 bug fixes" according to NVIDIA.

Links:
Windows XP
Windows XP x64
Windows Vista/Windows 7 32-bit
Windows Vista/Windows 7 64-bit

EA has announced that a limited edition version of Bad Company 2 will arrive in March with 6 special unlocks out-of-the-box for gamers who purchase the game from participating retailers. This will give them a day 1 tactical advantage in multiplayer matches. Best part? No price premium. From the PR:

STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced a Limited Edition* release of Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2, the premier first-person shooter of 2010. The Limited Edition game features six special gameplay unlocks that give players a tactical advantage on the battlefield from the minute they fire up the game. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has been recognized by critics worldwide for its uncompromising action gameplay, unprecedented level of destruction, vehicular warfare, squad play and open sandbox environments in a modern warfare game. Available while supplies last, the Limited Edition version of the game will be sold at the same price as the standard version of the game with participating retailers in North America on March 2, 2010 and in Europe on March 5, 2010.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition delivers six special customizations early to give players a day one advantage in multiplayer matches. Four vehicle warfare unlocks will immediately enhance the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 best-in-class online vehicle warfare experience, delivering extra firepower, radar, and armor for the vehicles. Additionally, the tracer dart attaches to any enemy vehicle and allows RPG-toting teammates to track, lock on, and destroy their adversary. Seasoned veterans of Battlefield 1943™ will be able to immediately re-acquaint themselves with two classic and highly powerful weapons, the M1A1 submachine gun and the M1911 pistol.

The full list of six unlocks are as follows:

Four vehicle warfare unlocks

Improved Vehicle Armor – An up-armor package is mounted on all vehicle types, decreasing the effect of both explosive and penetrating warheads, significantly improving vehicle survivability.

Supreme Vehicle Firepower – Additional weapon packages are mounted for the driver of all armored vehicles, greatly expanding the range of targets the vehicle can successfully engage and destroy.

Vehicle Motion Sensor – Use this electronics warfare package to locate enemy units in direct proximity to the vehicle.

Tracer Dart Pistol – This magnetic dart attaches to any vehicle surface, allowing squad members to track, lock on, and fire rockets onto moving targets even beyond line of sight.

Two classic Battlefield 1943™ weapons

M1A1 Submachine Gun – Reliable but heavy this classic weapon is a powerful force in the hands of any Battlefield veteran.

M1911 Pistol – Highly customized M1911 are favored for its dependability and the power of its large .45 caliber round.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on March 2, 2010 in North America for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the PC. The game will be available on March 5, 2010 in Europe.

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.

* The Limited Edition will be sold while supplies last.

Is it an RPG or is it an FPS? Borderlands blends the best elements of both in one entertaining package. Vandy has spent the past week playing the PC version of the game and came away rather impressed. Read his full thoughts on the game in today's review!

>> Click Here to read the article

Nintendo has announced a new DSi model featuring larger 4.2" dual screens (today's DSi boasts 3.25" screens). The new portable game console will be sold as the DSi LL in Japan, where it will arrive on 11/21 priced at 20,000 yen ($220). In North America and Europe the console will be sold as the DSi XL. Nintendo has announced 3 colors so far, natural white, wine red, and dark brown.

In addition to announcing the new DSi variant, Nintendo also revised their profit forecast downward by 23%, to $2.5 billion. More details can be found at Venture Beat.

Fudzilla belives NVIDIA's next-generation Fermi GPU will be launched in December. According to their sources NVIDIA's already taking orders but can't provide their partners with a firm launch date yet. The launch could occur in the last few days of November, or early December.

If NVIDIA can pull off a launch in Fudzilla's timeframe, that would be an incredibly quick turnaround. We now know NVIDIA just got first silicon back from Taiwan a month ago. In comparison ATI first showed RV870 to the public in early June, with the launch occurring 3 months later in Sept. Fudzilla expects most of NVIDIA's early allocation will go towards the server market, where Tesla cards can command significantly higher price premiums than GeForce. NVIDIA could probably opt for less aggressive clocks for Tesla boards as well to improve yields as well as their profit margins.

Fudzilla believes the Core i7-920 will finally be replaced in Q1'2010. According to their sources, Intel plans to introduce a new 2.88GHz 4-core/8-thread Core i7-930 part to replace the 920.

It will be interesting to see if this chip is based on a new stepping or not. Intel's current D0 stepping brought improved headroom for OC'ing when it was introduced earlier this summer.

PowerColor is the first manufacturer to announce a liquid-cooled Radeon HD 5870, the LCS HD 5870. Besides its single-slot waterblock, the card is factory OC'ed to speeds of 875MHz core/1250MHz memory (5Gbps data rate). The waterblock is sourced from EK Waterblocks. Here's a clip from the PR:

The PowerColor LCS HD5870 has a full water block mounted on the card, fully covering the memory and power regulator chip. With a copper base design, it is able to reduce temperatures in the most efficient way possible. PowerColor packages a high-flow 3/8" and 1/2" fittings (barbs) to maximize water flow with captured o-rings to prevent leakage. Gamers can easily customize their own liquid cooling system using these two fittings.

"The most efficient cooling solution should pack with the most powerful GPU,” said Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation. “With the partnership with EK, the LCS HD5870 can work impressively in a cool and stable operating environment—it’s the card which designed to fulfill the true gamers!”

Like Sapphire's 5870 Vapor-X, the PowerColor LCS HD 5870 ships next week.