Maximum PC - News

Blizzard: Activision “Hasn't Changed Anything” About Us

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:29:55 +0000

You could be forgiven for thinking that even Blizzard – perhaps the only company more powerful than the natural disaster it's named after – might not escape a run-in with and subsequent buy-out by Activision unscathed. After all, if the Infinity Ward fiasco proved anything, it's that Activision isn't afraid to bust down the doors and assert control when it feels like things aren't going its way. But unless Activision's got some kind of 24-hour hypno-ray constantly blasting Blizzard's offices, it sounds like Activision has yet to recreate the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo developer in its image.

“Since we had our merger with Activision, it hasn’t changed anything at Blizzard,” Blizzard VP Michael Ryder told MCV. “We operate in pretty much the same way we already have. Since we have been working with Activision we continue to be who we are. We make the same decisions in the same way we always have, and the relationship with Activision hasn’t changed that.”

“For example, one of our values is that gameplay is supremely important. We talk about play nice and play fair, which has to do how we work with each other and our partners. Preserving that culture is a key part of our ability to continue to deliver great games. We nurture it, protect it and take care of it as much as we can, because it is a big part of who we are.”

So yeah, if you thought Activision might have been pulling the strings behind the whole Real ID debacle, this seems to suggest that you were wrong. Granted, we're not ready to about-face and start handing out fliers for St. Activision's Church just yet. After all, what happens when Blizzard starts pitching something that doesn't fit nicely into its steady diet of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo? If the goose stops laying golden eggs, will its goose be cooked? Tough to say. Hopefully  we'll get a definitive answer when Blizzard reveals that new MMO it's been working on. 

Blu-ray Discs Coming to a Redbox Near You

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:06:28 +0000

Everyone's favorite DVD rental kiosk, Redbox, is about to take a big step into the realm of high definition. The company will soon be rolling out Blu-ray discs to their locations, but it will cost customers a bit more pocket change. Regular DVDs have always gone for $1 per night, but Blu-rays will run you $1.50 per night. 

At first, the selection will be limited, with titles like The Book of Eli, Green Zone, Bounty Hunter, and Brooklyn's Finest showing up in the first batch. The delay in moving to Blu-ray was tied to a legal dispute with the studios. Redbox has agreed to wait 28 days after a film's disc release before stocking it. This move brings Redbox to parity with Netflix, which has been offering Blu-rays by mail for some time.

At the rate Redbox and Netflix are taking over the market, we have to wonder how Blockbuster can expect to continue on. Are you a frequent user of Redbox? Does $1.50 for a Blu-ray sound like a reasonable price to you?

Microsoft, Ballmer Envious of iPad's Success, Insists Windows Tablets are a Priority

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:46:20 +0000

As the only option in town, Apple has been able to move a bunch of iPads to eager tablet owners, and don't think for a second Microsoft hasn't taken notice.

"They've sold certainly more than I'd like them to have sold," said Steve Ballmer, the ever candid CEO of Microsoft.

Ballmer's comments came while speaking at Microsoft's financial analyst meeting on Thursday, in which the CEO not only wanted to reassure that the future is looking hunky-dory, but that Windows-based tablets will definitely play a role in the near-term.

"They'll be shipping as soon as they are ready," Ballmer said. "It is job one urgency. No one is sleeping at the switch." Ballmer went to explain that the goal is "not just to deliver products, but to deliver products that people want to buy."

The problem for Microsoft is that it hasn't always identified which types of products people will want to buy, as exemplified by the company's recent Kin phone failure.

On the tablet front, it's been a bumpy road so far for Microsoft. The Redmond outfit ended up pulling its dual-display Courier earlier this year, and more recently, HP put on hold plans to launch its Windows 7-based Slate.

HTC Sets Goal of 6.5 Million Handset Shipments in Third Quarter

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:46:14 +0000

Fast approaching the size of major international brand vendors, smartphone maker HTC said it expects to ship upwards of 6.5 million handsets in the third quarter of 2010. If HTC reaches its goal -- and there's every reason to believe the company will -- it will represent a 132 percent increase from the same quarter one year ago.

HTC's rise as a dominant handset maker has come seemingly overnight. The reason, says company CFO Cheng Hui-ming, is that HTC thrived largely as a niche player, riding the waves of a single hot product every year. In more recent times, HTC has been able to pump out several popular smartphones simultaneously, and that's made all the difference in the world.

As Cheng sees it, HTC will continue to be a major force rather than this being a temporary upswing in shipments. The company plans to increase monthly capacity at both its Taoyuan and Shanghai plants to two million and one million units, respectively, in 3Q10, Cheng said.

Puget Dunks High End Components into Mineral Oil Filled Aquarium PC

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:46:17 +0000

Oil immersion cooling isn't anything new, and long-time Maximum PC readers will recall our experience with Hardcore PC's oil-cooled Reactor back in December, 2008. Puget Systems, one of the few remaining boutique PC vendors to avoid being bought out by a bulk OEM, also sells a DIY oil-cooled kit, and it's just been updated.

The new Aquarium PC Version 3 is larger than any previous version and can now accommodate full E-ATX motherboards. But that isn't the only change.

"The biggest improvement is that it allows the power supply to be mounted on the motherboard tray, making it much easier to maintain the PC, as you don't have to worry about the power supply sitting on the bottom of the tank as you pull the motherboard tray out of the aquarium," Puget explains. "It also has more than twice the cooler power!"

To prove it, Puget dunked "the most extreme hardware available" into the revamped Aquarium, which consisted of an Intel S5520SC workstation board, two Intel Xeon X5677 processors clocked at 3.46GHz, 12GB of Kingston DDR3-1600 memory, a 30GB Kingston SSDNow V Series SSD, two ATI Radeon HD 5870 videocards, and a Corsair HX1000W PSU. You can catch the YouTube video right here.

The Aquarium and Cooling Module V3 is available now for around $670 and includes all the parts you need to send your PC swimming in mineral oil.

Image Credit: Puget

Zeno Clash Dev: PC Gamers Are More Open to Trying Weird Games

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:13:02 +0000

And we're not talking weird as in “Japanese pornographic PC game weird.” (At least, we really hope we're not.) Instead, we're talking good weird. Zeno Clash weird. For the uninitiated, Zeno Clash was a first-person brawler in which you explored a strange, colorful world and beat the stuffing out of its inhabitants, many of whom were bird people. And it was awesome. So anyway, we're fairly sure ACE Team co-founder Carlos Bordeu knows a thing or two about weird games, and he's willing to wager that you do too.

"I don't know whether it was because most people had already played Zeno Clash on PC, or that the console game launched a year later, but we definitely had much stronger sales on PC than on Xbox 360," he said of Zeno Clash's console port to Eurogamer.

"Zeno Clash was definitely weirder than most games, and it would be absurd to think that didn't put-off some people. PC players are maybe more open to trying weird games - games that aren't so mass market. But I don't know that I'd put it as harshly as PC gamers are smart and console gamers are stupid," he added.

In other words, it's a case of different strokes for different folks. Really though, even with as many off-the-wall indie titles as the PC has in its loony bin, we can't forget console gamers' favorite big old ball of crazy, Katamari Damacy. And how about Nintendo's toilet-paper unrolling, dog paw-shaking WarioWare series? Really, if anything, we're just glad that there are plenty of oddballs yucking it up on both sides of the great divide. In a gaming landscape dominated by gray shooters, brown shooters, and the occasional gray-brown shooter, it's comforting to know that plenty of color still exists if you just know where to look.

Nintendo to Talk 3DS Price, Release Date in September

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:16:08 +0000

Word all over the Web is that on September 29, 2010, Nintendo will finally reveal pricing details for its upcoming 3DS handheld gaming console, and also give it a release date. Or at least that's what everyone is reporting from all corners of cyber space. We did a little digging and it appears the source of this inside info is someone inside Bloomberg's Japan operations, who claims to have heard the news during a phone interview with Mr. Yasushi Hiroshi Minagawa, a Nintendo spokesman.

The big selling point of the 3DS is that it will produce glasses-free 3D visuals using some type of parallax barrier display technology. Other features include a motion sensor, a gyroscope that willl likely be used to adjust perspective in 3D landscapes, tilt-sensitive gameplay, and a persistent Wi-Fi connection capable of downloading games in the background.

While it looks like we'll have to wait until late September to find out exactly when the 3DS is coming, speculation has the release date pegged for sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

YouTube Increases Upload Limit to 15 Minutes

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:34:22 +0000

YouTube has raised the cap on video length from 10 minutes to 15 minutes following numerous entreaties to this effect. According to the world's most popular video site, the ability to upload videos longer than 10 minutes was the most requested feature. Some of you might be wondering why YT took so long to raise the limit.

On the face of it, the company feared that extending the upload limit without due preparation could have overwhelmed the site with unauthorized videos – especially longish content like movies. So YouTube was busy perfecting copyright-protection tools like its “state-of-the-art Content ID system” while your were clamoring for a more generous upload limit or none at all.

“Because of the success of these ongoing technological efforts, we are able to increase the upload limit today. We will continue our strong commitment to provide advanced technology and tools to protect the rights of small and large copyright owners worldwide. We’ll also do everything we can to release incremental improvements like this one that benefit our video creators,” YouTube said in a blog post.

Image Credit: YouTube

US Internet Gambling May Soon be Legal Again

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:03:28 +0000

It was just in 2006 when the US Congress approved a ban on internet gambling, but reports indicate the legislature is mulling the possibility of legalizing it again. The move in 2006 forced many online casinos out of business as US customers found they were unable to buy in. Many felt that online gambling was too tempting, and trapped people into losing large sums of money too easily.

As usual, this change would probably be aimed at increasing revenue. The bill passed through a committee this week would direct the government to license and collect taxes from online casinos. The bill would allow states to continue with a ban if they choose. This brings up the larger issue of the ever-expanding availability of the Internet. If people have access to a gambling online, or even on their phone, would more people get themselves in trouble?

If you ask us, there are plenty of other things people can spend too much money on around the Internet. Why single this out? Gambling doesn't seem more dangerous than other possible activities. How much control should the government exert over online business?

Sony Wants No Part of Emerging eBook Reader Price War

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:13:05 +0000

While Amazon and Barnes & Noble go for each other's jugular by releasing new and lower priced eBook readers, Sony says it's content to sit on the sidelines rather try to chase the lowest price eReader crown.

"Pricing is one consideration in the dedicated reading device marketplace, but Sony won't sacrifice the quality and design we're bringing book lovers to lay claim to the cheapest eReader," said Phil Lubell, Sony's vice president of digital reading. "Our global customers expect to get the best digital book reading experience and we’re concentrated on delivering that by investing in Sony’s award-winning design and original digital reading enhancements, such as eBook library borrowing and the only full touch-screen on the market."

Sony's comments are interesting because they seem to insinuate that the competition is cutting corners in order to lower hardware prices. That might be true with both Amazon and B&N now offering 3G-less Wi-Fi only models, but even their original eReaders recently came down in price.

What do you think is a fair price for a general purpose eBook reader?