Filed under: Desktops

Looks like EA’s about to cash in on all that “can it run Crysis” chatter — Crysis Warhead will be accompanied by the launch of a $699 Ultra-built gaming tower that should manage a consistent 30fps. Crytek has been testing on the so-called “Warhead PC” since early on the dev process, tweaking the engine to make sure the game ran well on the 2.66GHz E7300 Core 2 Duo, 512MB GeForce 9800GT and 2GB of RAM– the rule was “if it sucks on this, the whole thing sucks” — and it apparently cranks out consistently solid framerates at high quality settings. No word on an exact release date, but for $699 it’s not a bad deal — and hey, it plays Crysis.

[Via CNET]

Read - Article on Warhead PC’s development
Read - Tiger Direct info page

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Up until now, Wii-owning racers have been stuck with the Wii Wheel, Brando’s Wii Multi-Axis Racing System or something they cooked up in arts and crafts. Now, however, Logitech is providing a much better option for serious track stars. The Speed Force Wireless racing wheel is the first force-feedback wheel for Nintendo’s latest console, and while it was designed to work with Need For Speed Undercover, it’ll do just fine with future force-feedback racing titles as well. Disgustingly, you still have to plug a USB receiver into your Wii before this thing will work, but we guess that’s the breaks, huh? Look for this one to pop up in November (US and Europe) for $99.99. Full release after the break.

Continue reading Logitech unveils Speed Force Wireless racing wheel for Wii

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

It’s been the story from day one: the Novint Falcon is great and all, but without games there’s just no point. That’s about to change, however, as Novint has committed itself to developing Falcon integration for some big-name games, including a sizable number of EA blockbusters. Novint is buying up what it calls “3D Touch Rights” to games from the publisher, a no-risk revenue stream for the them and a license for Novint to sell games at a small profit with Falcon functionality built-in. The games will sell for $30, and you can get the haptics update for an existing game for $10. Of course, the $190-ish controller puts it all in perspective, but this is certainly a promising move for PC gamers and immersion freaks alike.

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Filed under: Gaming

Although PlayStation 2 / 3 and Xbox 360 owners have been living the dream for months, Wii owners can finally circle a date on their calender to undoubtedly be sick: June 22nd. As we expected, the title will indeed be adding Nintendo’s darling to its tour ’round the consoles, but just like those pesky Ticketmaster fees, things aren’t going to be all peaches and cream during the checkout process. For starters, Wii purchasers will be forced to swallow the “no downloadable content” and “no online multiplayer support” pills, and after those are down, they’ll be forced to shell out $169.99 and know that their Wiimote won’t have anything to do with the instruments (unlike Guitar Hero III’s Wiimote-controlled axe). And no, your GHIII guitar most definitely won’t play nice with Rock Band. Yes, that is the sound of your expectations being crushed.

Update: The crew over at Joystiq got in touch with Harmonix, who hooked them up with this pic of the white Wii drumkit and a few addtiional deets: although a lot of features got axed, including character creation and Mii support, Wii rockers will score wireless guitars out of the box. Sure, but we’d rather have GHIII compatibility, you know?

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gaming_news/Gibson_now_sues_Harmonix_for_Rock_Band’; We still think Gibson’s attempt to claim that Guitar Hero violates its patent on “simulating a musical performance with a musical instrument” is totally unfounded and ridiculous for a number of reasons (it involves a “3-D headset,” for one), but we can sort of see why the company is now suing Harmonix as well — they’re a Fender outfit, after all. The third in a series of petulant lawsuits filed by the notoriously litigious guitar maker over the patent claims Harmonix, Viacom, and Electronic Arts are all liable for Rock Band, but it’s not clear if Gibson is going after just the guitars or the drum kit as well, which is probably closer to actually counting as an instrument. Of course, the patent itself hasn’t changed since the last time we read it, and it’s obvious that Gibson’s going to have itself quite a challenge convincing the court that playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band involves musical instruments of any kind — after all, it’s just Simon, right?

Disclaimer: Nilay is a lawyer and a rock star, but he’s not your lawyer (or your monkey, man) and this is not legal advice or analysis.

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Filed under: Gaming

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/playstation/EA_bets_PS3_will_best_Xbox_360_sales_in_2008′; Hold onto your lunch, we’re looking at quite the turnaround in fortunes for the PS3 if EA’s sales predictions for 2008 hold true. With a hot new SKU on the shelves, an unlikely Halo killer, strong market share in Europe and that profitability milestone crossed, the PS3 is looking at its best shot at greatness since it landed. At least EA and Sony seem to think so. Sony has been naturally bullish about its latest “10 year life cycle” console, but now EA is jumping on board, predicting the box will sell between 9.5 million and 11.5 million units this year, compared to 6 million to 8 million for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Most of that margin is expected to be found in Europe, to the tune of 5 million or so over the 360. Of course, there’s one more factor here: EA predicts between 12 million and 14 million in Wii sales — better luck next time, guys.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming

Finally got around to trading in that raincheck for your very own Wii? Good. Ready to pick up Rock Band? Believe it or not, we think we know that the aforementioned title is indeed headed to Nintendo’s darling — that’s according to EA’s CEO John Riccitiello, who was reportedly heard mentioning its “coming launch” on a recent conference call. Apparently, IGN even went the extra mile and pinged EA for additional confirmation (and got it), and while no details surrounding a release date, price or wicked new setlist were uncovered, at least you’ve got a few ticks to start scrounging up spare change.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming

Just days ago, we heard that the Rock Band team would be replacing faulty axes with haste, but alas, they haven’t been able to come through as promised to all customers. Reportedly, a “late shipment from its manufacturer” has caused some gamers to pace around frantically while suffering through an “unacceptably long delay,” but rather than sitting idly, EA will be offering up a free game to those who are forced to wait. Certain customers have already received emails notifying them of their reward for patience, but interestingly, there’s no mention of what game will be handed out. ‘Course, it also states that “details will follow shortly,” so here’s to hoping it’s a title worth playing (or eBaying, at the very least).

[Via Joystiq, thanks Mike]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

Following up on yesterday’s news of Rock Band hardware concerns, developer Harmonix has issued a software patch meant to mend issues that players have been having with downstrumming. Unfortunately, the software fix doesn’t seem to be taking for everyone — some users are reporting fully functional axes, while others are still plagued by the strum problem. Worse yet, other gamers are reporting that the patch has caused their strums to double up — thus making the game considerably more crappy. On the silver-lining flip side, EA is actively honoring warranties for the Rock Band gear, though they say guitar replacement will take nearly two weeks — which will put you dangerously close to not being able to jam through X-mas.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

While we’re still quite early in the game (literally), reports have started trickling in that there may be some substantial issues with some of the hardware included in Harmonix’s latest and greatest, Rock Band. According to forum posts from disgruntled users, folks who’ve just gotten the game are having a litany of problems, from drums with no sensitivity, an always-on whammy, and sticky buttons — but most of the stress seems to be related to the downstrum. Current descriptions paint the problem as an overly- or ineffectual strum, resulting in a pretty annoying game experience. Of course, it’s early on right now, and it’s too soon to know if this is a widespread problem or if it’s relegated to a small production batch. We pose this question to our readers: are you having Rock Band issues?

[Thanks, J]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

Considering EA is the king of repackaging the same game for multiple consoles (and multiple years — hello, Madden), you wouldn’t expect the company’s head of international distribution to call for a single universal platform, but that’s exactly what Gerhard Florin told the BBC he wants. “We want an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible,” he said, adding that “You don’t need an Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii — the consumer won’t even realise the platform it is being played on.” Florin’s comments were based on his prediction that set-top boxes would eventually contain enough horsepower to stream and run games over the net, a development he said would kill the market for dedicated consoles in the next fifteen years — which means he’s obviously never had to struggle with a cable company DVR, because we think we’ll stick with a console that can register more than three button presses without locking up, thanks much.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!