Since STALKER: Clear Sky is not dramatically different to the original STALKER in many respects, much of the customization and tweaking advice in Clear Sky is the same as that in Shadow of Chernobyl. However because there are two entirely new rendering modes, a whole range of additional settings and new tweaks, as well as tweaks which no longer work in Clear Sky, I've written this STALKER: Clear Sky Tweak Guide to allow users to fully understand and customize Clear Sky thoroughly to better meet their needs.

That's a good thing, right?

Having had the EU version for a few days I'd say this is a solid, if somewhat buggy follow-up.

But, she said, being a player did not mean being a loner.

"Three quarters of teens actually play these games with other people, whether online or in person."

Even playing games every day does not appear to impact teenagers' social lives.

"People who game on a daily basis are just as likely to talk on the phone, to email, to spend time with a friend face to face outside of school as kids who play games less," she said.

Was there ever a great unintentional improv moment that made it onto the screen?

Yeah! Did you know that Bill Shatner tried to drown me in Star Trek IV? [laughs] People don't believe he tried to drown me! Do you remember the scene near the end? Well, we landed in San Francisco Bay with the ship – big storm – and we were shooting in a tank at Paramount Studios and they've got this big hull of the ship sitting in the water.

People were climbing out onto the rail on the outside of the ship and we see the whales and everything's going to be OK. A couple of people start to jump into the water, unrehearsed, and I thought this was great … they're jumping in, they're jumping in, and now Shatner decides I have to go in the water too. He's a real strong guy and I'm holding on tight to the rails and he's pulling at my fingers. I was wearing this very heavy cotton robe and I didn't really give it a thought until he got me loose and I hit the water. When that robe got wet, it became like an anchor and I sank [laughs] right to the bottom of the tank. And I had to get that robe off of me underwater, I couldn't get back up.

I'm a pretty good swimmer, so I wasn't panicked but I realized I gotta get this thing off. I hit the bottom, kicked the bottom and shot up. "You son of a bitch! Tried to drown me!" [laughs] But it turned out to be a great moment in the movie. It was a lot of fun. That's the kind of humor I'm talking about.

“The launch of Crysis Warhead marks a significant milestone for the entire Crytek family,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek. “The team at Crytek Hungary has delivered a dynamic and intense single player experience more than worthy of the Crysis franchise, while the multiplayer team in Frankfurt has revisited and extended multiplayer in the Crysis universe with Crysis Wars. They are both great representations of our studio’s core values of technical excellence, craftsmanship and quality.”

“Crytek is a world-class partner and quickly becoming one of the most formidable independent developers in the industry,” said David DeMartini, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Partners. “Crysis was one of the best games of last year and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Crysis Warhead, a game that actually improves upon Crysis’ core experience, to the largest possible audience on a global stage.”

Crysis Warhead takes place alongside the events of last year’s critical hit, with players experiencing the explosive battles against waves of challenging enemies on the other side of the island through the eyes and nanosuit of the bold and aggressive Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes. Crysis Wars features 21 maps and three diverse multiplayer modes, including InstantAction, frenetic deathmatch enhanced by the power of the nanosuit, PowerStruggle, a hardcore team-based mode and introducing TeamInstantAction, a mix of fast-paced action in a team-based environment. Both are built on Crytek’s award-winning CryENGINE 2, optimized now to deliver the high-fidelity graphics Crytek is known for with an improvement in performance across a wide range of PCs.

Bioshock was a success and praised for its story, and now most new games are playing up their storylines. Do you see Bioshock as an influence, or were you just ahead of the curve?

KL: It's hard to say. I think that we had some games last year that had a focus on that and certainly the reviews focused on that, like Portal and Bioshock, Mass Effect, and I think that to some degree they're about games embracing what they are, particularly with Portal and Bioshock. They're not movies, they're not things to be watched, they're things to be played, and the story has to bow down to that. And I think that sort of counter-intuitive thing about making it less about story - I got a lot of heat after giving that talk at GDC.

To some degree, counter-intuitively, the fact that we weren't wanting to tell this story god dammit, and the viewer better see every second of it, and hear every audio diary was one of the strengths of the story-telling. And I think... different strokes for different folks. Some people like their long cutscenes. They aren't to my tastes, or the team so much, so I feel there are lots of ways to go. But I couldn't tell you why there's a new focus, it's a combination of things. It's a combination of the attention of Hollywood, our ability to tell - we couldn't tell the story of Bioshock in our earlier games because we didn't have the polygons to render all the visual stuff we told the story with. All those amazing scenes are still - you couldn't tell the story back in the System Shock 2 days, you didn't have the tools.

I’m going to give you the straight goods here. We heard you last year when many of you on the forums were asking for “NG on PC”. On FIFA 08 360/PS3, the gameplay and the rendering were both different than FIFA 08 PC. At the start of the FIFA 09 PC cycle, we looked at what it would take to get 360/PS3 gameplay and rendering to work on PC. What we learned quickly is that there is a big difference between the gameplay and the rendering.

For the rendering, it was very scalable – same as Crysis, CoD4, etc. The better your graphics card, the better we could make FIFA PC look. If you didn’t have the best card, the game would play the same, but wouldn’t look as great. That’s what you expect for any PC game. When it came to gameplay, the story was different. When we re-wrote the gameplay for FIFA 360/PS3 a couple years ago, we took full advantage of the multiple, multi-core processors (actually 3 essentially dual-core CPU’s on 360, and 6 available Cell processors on PS3). The bottleneck for getting “NG on PC” was the CPU (i.e. it was AI, not graphics). Unfortunately, unlike graphics/rendering, you can’t scale gameplay depending on the CPU in the machine because the game needs to “play” the same on each machine – you can't just turn off the decisions, positioning, or inverse kinematics for some of the players.

Why does FIFA 360/PS3 gameplay use so much CPU compared to Crysis, CoD4, etc.? It’s because of the depth of the gameplay (21 players making 1,000 decisions/second, the new animation system, etc.) – very different from the amount of gameplay ever running in an FPS. This meant if we ported the 360/PS3 gameplay to PC and optimized it, we would have to increase the minimum spec on the CPU to a level where only around ~5% of FIFA PC gamers would meet it. As much as any of us wanted to do this, it did not make sense.

Instead, we decided to do the work of bringing a big improvement to the graphics (as many of you have noted), further polish and enhance our deep gameplay engine, and work on some PC-specific features. We didn’t want to just give you a port, but rather the best experience for FIFA on the PC. This included the mouse controls for the keyboard gamers, the online widgets, the higher-res menus, and fully customizable controls.

Hope you found this helpful. For those who have been with FIFA on the PC for a while, you’ll recognize that FIFA 09 is the biggest investment we’ve put in the platform in a while. It’s a sign of things to come.

Thanks Dr. StreeT.

Activision Blizzard is set to release games in the James Bond franchise annually, following the release of the upcoming title Quantum of Solace, according to analysts at Cowen and Company.

"James Bond will become an annual franchise, which we had not necessarily expected given the lack of an accompanying movie next year," commented analyst Doug Cruetz.

Audio

• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - TechSpot

  Boards
  

• Asus M3A78-T, 790GX & Phenom 9950 - Neoseeker
• Sapphire PURE 780G AMD Motherboard - Techware Labs

  Cases
  

• Lian Li PC-X500 - I4U
• Raidmax IceCube SFF Micro ATX Case - Modders-Inc

  Cooling
  

• Cooler Master Sphere CPU Cooler - ThinkComputers.org
• Xigmatek vs. Cooler Master vs. Akasa - Hexus
• Xigmatek Red Scorpion S1283 H.D.T. CPU Cooler - Tweaktown

  Performance
  

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Graphics Card performance roundup - Guru3D
• Tuning Warhammer Online - PCGH

  Power Supply
  

• Cooler Master UCP 1100W - XtremeComputing
• Power consumption of graphics cards compared - PCGH

  Video
  

• BFG GeForce 9600 GT OCX - HotHardware
• Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB - Big Bruin

Wizard101 Strategy Guide
Advice from the KingsIsle team to help new apprentice spellcasters begin their journeys through the early stages - Includes six exclusive screenshots

Zu Online Wallpaper #1
Developer Onwind Digital and western publisher IGG offer an exclusive concept art-based image for your desktop - An exclusive desktop in four sizes

JS: I'd like to chat a little bit about Larrabee and software rendering. I'm sure you're NDA'd on it, but Intel just did a pretty substantial reveal so we can talk in more detail about it. So first off, I'm wondering if you're looking at any of the Larrabee native stuff. What do you think about the prospects of this whole idea of not doing Direct3D or OpenGL, but writing directly to Larrabee's micro-OS?

TS: I expect that in the next generation we'll write 100 percent of our rendering code in a real programming language—not DirectX, not OpenGL, but a language like C++ or CUDA. A real programming language unconstrained by weird API restrictions. Whether that runs on NVIDIA hardware, Intel hardware or ATI hardware is really an independent question. You could potentially run it on any hardware that's capable of running general-purpose code efficiently.

JS: So you guys are just going to skip these graphics APIs entirely?

TS: That's my expectation. Graphics APIs only make sense in the case where you have some very limited, fixed-function hardware underneath the covers. It made perfect sense back with the 3Dfx Voodoo and the first NVIDIA cards, and the very first GeForces, but now that you have completely programmable shaders, the idea that you divide your scene up into triangles rendered in a certain order to a large framebuffer using fixed-function rasterizer features is really an anachronism. With all that general hardware underneath, why do you want to render scenes that way when you have more interesting possibilities available?

Call of Duty franchise creator Infinity Ward will develop the sixth main game in the series, due for release in 2009, following this year's upcoming release of Call of Duty: World at War by Treyarch.

The news was revealed by Infinity Ward parent Activision Blizzard during the company's Analyst Day.

Infinity Ward last developed the critically-acclaimed, enormously successful Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, released last November. Treyarch released the previous year's entry, Call of Duty 3.

"What you're waitin' for? Christmas?" Your September 24th XBLA release, actually.

Today Ubisoft and Gearbox Software, announce that Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system has gone gold and will ship to stores in North America on September 23, 2008.

Developed by Gearbox Software, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway brings the critically acclaimed squad-based WWII shooter into the next generation of gaming, with amazing graphics and sound and new cutting-edge gameplay features. Delivering on the franchise's compelling story, unrivaled authenticity and intense squad-based action, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway drops you into Operation Market Garden, the largest paratrooper operation in World War II.

Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway will be available at the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $59.99.

For more news and information on Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway, please visit the game's official website at www.brothersinarmsgame.com.

Developer Q&A...;

Before I go on, I'd like to point out that Graphics power and CPU power are two very different technical parameters, and it's because of the CPU power that FIFA09 on PC can not (and does not) have the same architecture as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. The Graphics are a separate matter, and FIFA09 on PC has leading-edge graphics.

With that said, please allow me to further explain what I said earlier in this thread, as I believe that some of you may have misunderstood:

The PC version of FIFA 09 is different to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions because of the CPU processing power required for the architecture of the game.

The majority of gamers PC system's do not have enough CPU processing power[1] for this architecture[2], so FIFA09 on PC has been built to have the best possible graphics and gameplay engine while still being accessible to as many fans of the game as possible[3]. If the architecture was identical to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, FIFA09 on PC would only be accessible to 1-3% of the PC systems on the market.[4]

Having said that, FIFA09 on PC delivers a very deep gameplay engine, along with leading-edge visuals.

[1] I am aware that some PC systems are as capable as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (and that some are even more capable than them), but the majority of PC systems aren't (see [4]).

[2] The fact that a PC system can run Gears of War, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, etc. is irrelevant: the gameplay architecture of FIFA09 can not be compared to games of a different genre, and it is a fact that the majority of PC systems do not have enough CPU processing power for FIFA09 on PC to be the same as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

[3] This means that, although some of your PC's may be able to 'handle' a better gameplay architecture, only 1-3% of PC systems on the market could 'handle' the same gameplay architecture as FIFA09 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (see [4]).

[4] "If the architecture was identical to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, FIFA09 on PC would only be accessible to 1-3% of the PC systems on the market." That is a fact.

However, because the PC continues to benefit from constant graphics and performance increases (and always will), the FIFA series on the PC will continue to improve each year, and it's architecture will, in time, 'surpass/exceed' the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 versions.

I wouldn't say that FIFA09 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 has "much, much better graphics" than FIFA09 on PC, but that's a matter of opinion.

FIFA09 on PC was optimized so that it has the best possible graphics and gameplay engine, while still being accessible to as many fans of the game as possible (so if the game had better graphics, it would require a better graphics card, and it wouldn't be as accessible to the fans of the game).

I didn't say that FIFA 2010 on PC will (or won't) be the same as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game (because I do not know whether it will (or won't) be, at this moment in time).

So with the second game in the can now, you're satisfied with everything? There's nothing you'd add or change?

Um, there's low spots in the game and it's no one's fault that these low spots are there, it's just there's a lot to this game. You've got to remember that we're not building a corridor game here where you can say "right, in one hour fifteen minutes, someone's going see that light and we're going make that light like this."

I think the lip-sync is pretty bad, you know, the quality of the animation falls off, you know, quite a lot, I think the navigation can be a bit dodgy sometimes, I think the dog can... get a bit fractured sometimes. But those are sideline issues, you're not going care about those, they're technical issues, and I wish we'd had time to polish every single tiny second of the game.

But you don't want me to do that, you want an experience, and what I'm most happy with is the experience that people are getting when they play through this game. And the only people that have played through this game is the team that's worked on it, and they're the ones that normally turn round to me and say, "What the **** were you playing at!?" And they're the ones now in Fable 2 and everybody at Lionhead said Fable is different to any other game they've played before, it's a unique experience and it's better. The game is actually better than they thought it would be.

Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, today announced that the highly-anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), will ship tomorrow to retail stores across North America, Europe, and Oceania in preparation for launch on September 18th. WAR set a company record for the most retail pre-orders placed by consumers for a PC title in EA’s 26 year history. Overall, the company has sold 1.5 million units of WAR to retailers.

“This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe. Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “In three days the real battle begins – we have declared September 18th the ‘Day of Reckoning,’ and WAR will soon be upon us!”

Electronic Arts has finally ended its pursuit of rival Take-Two Interactive, ending a seven-month attempt to buy the publisher of Grand Theft Auto.

California-based EA, the world's biggest games publisher, had made an initial $26 a share takeover bid in February, valuing its rival at more than $2bn. But after being spurned by the board of Take-Two on several occasions, executives announced yesterday that a deal was no longer a possibility.

In a statement, Electronic Arts said that it retained "high regard" for its rival, but that talks had come to an end.

"After careful consideration – including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials – EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions," it said.

The news has sent Take Two's share price plummeting.

Boards

• ECS A790GXM-A Black Series - Hardware Secrets
• ECS P45T-A Motherboard - PCStats
• Foxconn Concerto G45 Motherboard - Tweaktown
• Gigabyte EP45-DS3R - OCC
• Gigabyte EP45-Extreme - Bjorn3D
• Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H - Techware Labs
• Intel X48 Motherboard Round-up: ASUS, ECS, & Intel - HotHardware

  Buyer's Guides
  

• September Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - SharkyExtreme

  Cases
  

• APEVIA X-Master AL/500 - OCC
• Tagan A+ Monolith Full Tower Case - Hardware Logic

  Cooling
  

• Cooler Master GeminII S CPU Cooler - ThinkComputers.org
• Evercool Transformer 6 CPU Cooler - Virtual-Hideout
• Glacialtech Igloo 7223 Light E Heatsink - FrostyTech
• Noctua NH-C12P CPU cooler - XS Reviews
• NZXT Sentry LX High Performance Fan Controller - ThinkComputers.org
• Take Control of Your 4800 Video Card's Fan - [H]
• Zalman CNPS9300 AT CPU Heatsink - Hi-Tech Reviews

  CPU
  

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 - Hardcoreware

  Keyboards
  

• Das Keyboard Professional - FrictonlessInsight
• Logitech Illuminated Keyboard - I4U

  Memory
  

• G.Skill 2x2GB PC2 8800 - Overclockers Online
• Kingston HyperX XMP-1800 2GB DDR3 Memory Kit - Tweaktown

  Mice
  

• SilverStone Raven SST-RVM01B Gaming Mouse - BMR

  Pads
  

• Evo-G MP1 Mousepad - Dragonsteel Mods

  Power Supply
  

• BFG Tech LS Series 680W - ThinkComputers.org
• BFG LS-Series 680w - Virtual-Hideout
• E-Power Thunder 550 Watt - Hardware Logic
• Thermaltake Toughpower Power Express 650W - ThinkComputers.org

  Video
  

• ATI Radeon HD 4670 Mainstream GPU - HotHardware
• Galaxy 9600GT OC - XS Reviews
• Geforce 9500 GT SLI vs Geforce 9600 GT Performance Comparison - Madshrimps
• GIGABYTE 9800 GT - Bjorn3D
• Gigabyte GeForce 9800GT 512MB - APHNetworks
• Leadtek WinFast PX9500GT - Bjorn3D
• Palit ATI Radeon HD 4850 - Techware Labs
• Palit - ATI Radeon HD 4870 - Techware Labs
• Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic - Legion Hardware
• Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic 512MB - ThinkComputers.org
• Palit HD4850 - OCC
• Palit Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition - Guru3D
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 in CrossFire - Hexus
• Sapphire Toxic HD4850 - Hi-Tech Reviews
• XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ - [H]

PC

• Spore - Crispy Gamer - Buy it
• Spore - YouGamers - 77%
• Spore - GPM - B+
• Spore - IncGamers - 7.9/10
• Spore - Gamevalor - 9/10
• Spore - 2404 - 8.4/10