Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official

Gigabyte was able to officially launch their G1-Killer Gaming Series motherboards over at Vegas during CES 2011. Take it as something similar to ASUS’s ‘Republic of Gamers’ series. Currently in their list there are three motherboards, but awkwardly they’re all X58 motherboards, with not much of a difference in between them.

img class=alignleft title=”Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official” src=”http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2011/january/550x-gigabyte-g1-4.jpg” alt=”Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official” />Gigabyte is introducing four main features in the G1-Killer Gaming Series. The first is Super-Speed, which means support for 4-way CrossFireX™ and 3-way SLI™. The second is Super-Hearing, which means Onboard Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Digital Audio Processor (20K2) that has X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity®, EAX® Advanced HD)tm) 5.0, Dolby® Digital Live, DTS™ Connect, and finally built-in front panel audio headphone amplifier. They’re also promoting the use of Nichicon High-end Audio capacitors in their products.

The third main feature is called Super-Speed. This comes in the form of the hugely advertised onboard Bigfoot Networks Killer™ E2100 Dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU), which has 1GB of dedicated DDR2 memory to help offload network traffic from the CPU, freeing it up to do other important computing tasks. But it doesn’t end there. Super Speed also includes SATA 3.0 (6Gbps) and USB 3.0, as they provide up to 4 USB 3.0 ports (2 front panels, 2 back panels). The SATA 3.0 is sourced from Marvel.

Lastly is the Super-Shield. This is the new heatpipe design from Gigabyte, with the Southbridge heatsink looking like a magazine. You can even see a bullet there. There are also 5 fan connectors onboard and they can be easily controlled via GIGABYTE’s EasyTune™ 6 utility as well as in the BIOS. They’re also equipped with their own individual thermal sensors. The Super-Shield also includes Gigabyte’s famous Ultra Durable™ 3 and Dual Bios.

The three motherboards are called G1-Assassin, G1-Sniper, and G1-Guerilla. All three are X58 motherboards, with G1-Assassin having support for Super-Speed (4-way CrossFireX™ and 3-way SLI™). Both the Assassin and the Sniper have Creative HW audio 20k2 present, except for Guerilla which uses Realtek ALC 889. Bigfoot Killer™ 2100 NPU is present on all three boards. The G1-Assassin is the only XL-ATX board, as the rest are standard ATX boards.

SOURCE via Gigabyte

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CM Storm Spawn Gaming Mouse for gamers, won’t make you SpawN

Here’s a new FPS mouse from Cooler Master’s Storm lineup. It’s ergonomically designed for professional gamers. It’s essentially a lightweight claw-grip mouse with anti-slip rubber side grips that the company says will be suitable for long gaming sessions, though I personally think that the ugly rubber side makes the mouse look cheap.

The Spawn also offers an Ultra-Step Scroll Wheel Encoder that let gamers have absolute control over the slightest movements. A user-programmable 3500 DPI button can be adjusted on-the-fly to provide gamers with the exact sensitivity they need to gain the competitive edge. Other specifications include seven fully programmable buttons, an USB transfer rate (polling rate) of 1,000Hz, ultra swift Teflon feet, a cable length of 2 meters, a gold-plated USB connector and a max acceleration of 20G. Unfortunately, there is no info on pricing or availability so far.

SOURCE via Softpedia

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Thrustmaster T500RS steering wheel unveiled, going for $599

Well, this is the thing that you need to buy if you want the nearest and most accurate experience of a real car racing circuits on GT5 feels, at least that’s what they want you to think. Thrustmaster has officially announced the full specs and price for its T500RS steering wheel and pedal set, otherwise known as the official driving simulator for Gran Turismo 5. Too bad Logitech, but you’re still awesome back then.

Anyway, the company says that the T500RS purportedly lets “users truly feel the emotions experienced by drivers on real racing circuits.” A contactless magnetic sensor system known as ‘HallEffect AccuRate Technology’ gives gamers sixteen-bit precision input that represents a significant upgrade over the twelve-bit version in the Ferrari Wireless GT Cockpit 430 Scuderia Edition.

Other features are like 1080 degree wheel rotation gives drivers a half-turn more than Logitech’s Driving Force GT though I’m not sure if that’s overdoing thing, and the system comes with fully adjustable pedals configurable for floor mounted (F1-style) and suspended (GT-style) positions.

Slated for a late December or mid-January release, depending on your location, the T500RS has a hefty list price of $599.99 MSRP, but that’s still a bargain if you want to know how a Bugatti Veyron and Zondas and Ferraris feels like in the ‘ring’, virtually of course.

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Nvidia GTX560 coming in January

Nvidia’s GTX580 and GTX570 are already out in the market, so there’s no surprise that the next in line will be the GTX560. The GTX460 released back then was a key product for Nvidia, as it gives the green company an edge in fighting AMD. Power efficiency combined with excellent performance, which really gave AMD a hard time. Now we’ll be seeing the successor to this great product.

The GPU-Z screenshot here shows that the upcoming GTX560 will be based on the GF114 and will have 384 CUDA cores. It’ll be coming sometime in January. If you notice, GTX580 and GTX570 are based on the refined GF110 which is from the GF100. This GTX560 however will be based on the GF114 which is probably a follow-up of the GF104, which back then was a retuned GF110, so we should expect some slight difference in performance and design of the core.

The GTX560 will have 384 Stream Processor (SM) running at 820MHz for the GPU. That’s the full 16 SMs like the other GeForce 5-series products. There’s 1640MHz for the shaders and 4000MHz for the 1024MB GDDR5 memory paired up with a 256-bit memory interface. The GTX 560 name isn’t carved in stone and although partners are internally referred to it as the GTX 560, Nvidia didn’t officially announce the name and the card could easily become the GTX 570 SE for that matter.

Of course, these specs are what partners got from Nvidia. Unfortunately, the card is scheduled for January next year so we’ll have to wait a while before we can talk about concrete information. This will be a very exciting product, especially for FAM users. Will we see a 15,000PPD card here?

SOURCE via expreview

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Call of Duty: Black Ops is the most pirated game

Call of Duty: Black Ops has been the fastest selling video games of all time, but that also racks the title a good spot in Jack Sparrow’s territory. The FPS game is now one of the most downloaded games, illegally.

TorrentFreak, a BitTorrent news site reports a scary 4.2 million download for Black Ops. That’s a very big number considering that the game has only been out not so long ago, and already beaten Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (3.96 million downloads), Mafia II, and Mass Effect 2 to take the notorious throne.

Thieves who own an Xbox 360 did their share in Black Ops stealing, downloading that console version 930,000 times, according to TorrentFreak’s numbers. Dante’s Inferno wound up being the most downloaded Xbox 360 game, with Super Mario Galaxy 2 sitting atop the most pirated list on for Wii owners. Well, the good thing is Black Ops is winning at nearly every corner.

SOURCE via TorrentFreak

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PS3 private cryptography key hacked, mass Bluray disc coming!

Linux on every PS3 ever sold. Possible? Yes, and it’s coming probably next month, as a group of hackers called fail0verflow has just claimed to hacked the PS3 to reveal its own private cryptography key, the all important thing that allows people to sign their own code. But that’s not all; they also revealed that Sony didn’t bother generating any random numbers to secure the blasted thing, thus the cryptography always generate a same number all the time. The group intends to generate a proof-of-concept video tomorrow, and release the tools sometime next month, which will allow installation of Linux onto PS3.

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Project Natal in stores October, to cost $149 alone.

Edge, the global gaming network, has something important to whisper to everyone. Project Natal has an actual pricing and timeframe. Apparently their trusted source told them that the Natal is hitting stores this coming 26th of October.

The standalone unit will cost $100 while bundled with the Xbox 360 Arcade console will be $299. Prices outside of the states will be slightly different than this SRP in the states, due to some factors, like currency exchange rates, taxes, and many others.

“Microsoft expects to sell millions and millions of Natal units in its first year on the market so you can expect the software launch line-up to target non-traditional gamers,” our source said. “A major marketing campaign will also play a key role in attracting and educating the expanded audience about Xbox 360’s controller-free revolution.”

Another interesting rumor is that the Project Natal won’t be called Natal after all, and the final retail name would only be announced on the upcoming E3. So, stay tuned folks!

[via Edge]

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NVIDIA announces GTX480M, frying eggs on notebook now possible.

Ever since AMD announced that their chips will be on 100+ models of notebooks beginning end of this year, Nvidia is having nightmares every night. The woodscrew Fermi was trashed around, delayed, and getting nicknamed by its friends and schoolmates and haters. AMD’s 5000-series had a great leap ahead of Nvidia in the DirectX 11 market, and was blasting away enjoying its runaway success. Nvidia finally go live with their Fermi around March, but 6 months late isn’t the main thing concern here anymore. The Fermi was huge, hot, and power-hungry. It barely won over the 5000-series.

Now, Nvidia has announced that the Fermi based GTX480M is going to notebooks next month. Of cause, the main issue that everyone ponders would be the power consumption. Nvidia stated that the total graphics power draw (GPU + RAM) is 100W, which is higher than the current high-end GTX285M.

Expected features are like CUDA, PhysX, OpenCL, PureVideo, and obviously DX11. Although Optimus is ready, it is unlikely any vendors would put such a powerful cheap with budget processors. The GTX480M will also be part of the Verde Driver Program. Hard specs wise, it has 352 “CUDA” Cores, core clock of 425MHz, shader clock of 850MHz, 256-bit of memory, and 600MHz GDDR5 memory (effectively 2400MHz). SLI is also possible on this chip, though its likely any vendors will release SLI-Ready notebooks that soon.

So, anybody gonna buy 1 of these beasts, and fry some eggs while gaming?

[via Anandtech]

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Next PSP is a mini PS3?

It appears that Sony would be showing off another new version of PSP (PlayStation Portable) at E3 this year.

VG247 quoted a source on saying that there’s a small chance that we will see a new PSP being displayed at E3 this year. Rumors has it that the new PSP2 NDAs have been in possession of a few UK publishers for months now, but though their initial plans were for a 2010 release, it seemed more likely to be released in 2011. Therefore people are expecting the announcement on either a Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show.

Rumored features are like multitouch touchscreen OLED yet retaining the good ol` PlayStation buttons at the sides. VG247 was told the device is “uber powerful,” and is based on a four-core Cell CPU, similar to those used in a PS3. Another said he/she would be “amazed” if there was any physical media involved and VG247 reports hearing sketchy rumors that this device could be 3G and WiFi enabled as opposed to the WiFi-only PSPGo.

“There have been “finished units” in the UK, but we haven’t spoken to anyone that’s seen a final case. – VG247”

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Need for Speed SHIFT gameplay

The Need for Speed SHIFT will be available in store starting 15th September. There are 72 licensed cars, 7 different car classes, and 3 physics models. XboxFront.de is showing the gameplay, check it out after the break.

[via Techeblog]

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PlayStation 4 concept by Tai Chiem

The PlayStation 4 concept is designed by Tai Chiem. It is expected to have a high end touch screen clear panel rather than glossy body. Its controllers are designed to match the main console and features several touch screen options. Hmm… glass looks nice but I don’t want my console to be that fragile.

[via Geekologie]

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Minna No Nabi the GPS Navigation for PSP

Zenrin Japan is releasing its new GPS software that is compatible with PSP1000/2000/3000 but not PSP Go. It is called Minna No Nabi (Everyone’s GPS). It has the Sony’s latest Social PetaMap service. In case of low GPS coverage or in “buildings”, you can still get your approximate location via WiFi. The Minna No Nabi will be available in Japan for 8,190 Yen (without the GPS Module) somewhere around November 5th.

[via Akihabaranews]

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Steam and Direct2Drive PC charts

The list of best selling PC titles for Steam and Direct2Drive isn’t inherently different this week, but there are some new titles that have been added to the mix D2D saw the enhanced version of The Witcher and Call of Duty: World at War added to the mix, while Steam reports that the THQ Collector Pack and Call of Duty 4 made an appearance.

The full thing is below courtesy of Shack.

Steam Top Ten

1. Left 4 Dead
2. Aion Collector’s Edition (pre-order)
3. THQ Collector Pack
4. Counter-Strike: Source
5. Killing Floor
6. Team Fortress 2
7. The Orange Box
8. Fallout Collection (F1, F2, Fallout Tactics)
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. Valve Complete Pack

Direct2Drive Top Ten

1. Champions Online (pre-order)
2. Fallen Earth (pre-order)
3. Aion Collector’s Edition (pre-order)
4. Rise of Flight
5. Fallout 3
6. Hearts of Iron III
7. Civilization 4: The Complete Edition
8. Call of Duty: World at War
9. The Sims 3
10. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

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ESRB lists ratings for some PSOne classics destined for PSN

The lovely ESRB has rated some classic PSOne games that are destined to hit PSN sometime or another.

Just look at that list. Full of win it is.

• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
• Bloody Roar
• Cool Boarders 2
• Cool Boarders 3
• International Track & Field
• Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus
• Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
• Pandemonium!
• SimCity 2000
• Syphon Filter 2
• Tomb Raider
• Tomb Raider 2
• Um Jammer Lammy

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PS3 Slim already sold out

Looks like some retailers have already sold out of PS3 Slim.

According to a report from Gamespot, local GameStop and Best Buy stores in or around San Francisco started selling the console a bit early, and have subsequently ran out of the fist shipment.

Amazon still has some left though, at least in the States.

Regardless, like most console launches, the merchandise will go fast, so if you want to be able to yell “FIRST!” into your friends’ faces – you better get on it.

Via Engadget.

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US PSN update – Invincible Tiger, Tomb Raider 2, SimCity 2000

Just like the movie store update, the US PSN content was a bit late, but here it is nonetheless.

Downloadable Games

• Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao ($14.99)- PSone Classics PS3 / PSP
• CoolBoarders 2 ($5.99)
• Tomb Raider 2 ($5.99)
• SimCity 2000

Game Demos

• WET
• DiRT 2
• NHL 10
• F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Reborn DLC demo

Add-ons

• Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Maps & Characters DLC ($9.99)
• LittleBigPlanet Artist Vera Bee Sticker Pack ($1.99)
• Crash Commando Add-On Bundle ($4.99), Heist Map Pack ($2.99), Character Pack 1 ($1.99),Character Pack 2 ($1.99),Character Pack 3 ($1.99)
• Cross Edge Add TP ($1.99), G ($1.99), EP ($1.99), PP 1 ($1.99), PP 2 ($1.99)
• Fight Night Round 4 Champions Pack ($4.99)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Tatooine Mission Pack ($9.99)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 Wolf Creek ($4.99)

The usual videos, themes, and Rock Band stuff is listed over on the US PS Blog.

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Playstation 3.5 before Pplaystation 4: EA creative boss

EA chief creative officer Rich Hilleman reckons consoles are now struggling to keep pace with lightning-speed changes in the games space, and that we won’t see new full hardware launches any time soon.

“I expected we’ll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720,” he told VentureBeat.

“The biggest shift is how fast packaged goods games are changing and going away.”

Hilleman also said future acceptance of gaming will be absolute, as older non-gamers die off and the current, 35 year-old, generation of players demanding that their games follow them everywhere no matter what the platform.

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Playstation 3.5 before Pplaystation 4: EA creative boss

EA chief creative officer Rich Hilleman reckons consoles are now struggling to keep pace with lightning-speed changes in the games space, and that we won’t see new full hardware launches any time soon.

“I expected we’ll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720,” he told VentureBeat.

“The biggest shift is how fast packaged goods games are changing and going away.”

Hilleman also said future acceptance of gaming will be absolute, as older non-gamers die off and the current, 35 year-old, generation of players demanding that their games follow them everywhere no matter what the platform.

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Hellboy Xbox 360 Case Mod

Love to Xbox games? Take a look at the Hellboy Xbox 360 case. Yes, this is a Xbox 360 case mod inspired by Hellboy. It was made by Frank Gonzales, an artists from Dallas, TX. If you are a fan of Hellboy, I am sure that you gonna love it. Enjoy the pictures.

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Xbox 360 Slim is a question of when, not if: Analyst

Analyst David Cole of DFC Intelligence has told Industry Gamers that it won’t be long before Microsoft released a slimmer version of Xbox 360. “I think it is a question of when not if,” he told the site. “However, the when part is a big uncertainty … rumors have been going on for a long time. I think people were asking me the same question last year at this time. As cost efficiencies allow smaller and more reliable is always a good thing. However, you also have something like Project Natal which could also tie in with hardware redesigns. “There are a lot of questions Microsoft must weigh internally and there are always going to arguments on both sides of the fence around timing. So I don’t know, but in our DFC forecasts we anticipated a major redesign in 2010….so I guess that was our bet.” While the other three analysts the site spoke with, Tom Greenwald of Signal Hill, Arvind Bhatia from Sterne Agee and Broadpoint AmTech’s Ben Schachter, do not agree with him, each do foresee a new SKU redesigned with Project Natal for 2010.

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