Microsoft today has announced the availability of the second platform preview for its upcoming browser, Internet Explorer 10. The first platform preview was released in April. This new platform preview contains the same HTML5 engine seen in the recent public Windows 8 demos.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/06...form-Preview-2 ...

RUMOUR WATCH: Stern Agee analyst claims company's next MMO title is aimed at mass market
Blizzard remains tight-lipped on it's mysterious project Titan but an analyst claims that the game is a casual MMO.
In his most recent report, Stern Agee's Arvind Bhatia wrote that Blizzard Entertainment's next products include "expansion packs for StarCraft and World of Warcraft, a new Diablo game [and] a new casual MMO", according to Kotaku.
He also claimed that these products are all likely to be released "in the next 12 to 24 months".
Blizzard has previously confirmed that Titan is the codename for its next generation MMO - could 'next generation' refer to the audience as well as the game itself?
Many believe the firm's World of Warcraft has reached its peak, having seen subscriptions fall to a three-year low last month. The recent announcement that WoW is going free-to-play will no doubt slow this decline.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/45145/Anal...-is-casual-MMO ...

$135 AMD A8-3850 slaughters Sandy Bridge for graphics
AMD announced the launch of the desktop versions of the 'Llano' Fusion A-Series of Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).
The chip maker said that the new AMD A8-3850 and A6-3650 processors will "enable a high-performance experience for desktop users, including brilliant HD graphics, supercomputer-like performance, and incredibly fast application speeds."
With the new desktop APUs launched, AMD also lifted the embargo on reviews of the new chip. Techspot's A8-3850 review said that rival Intel's Sandy Bridge, which provided a considerable boost to in graphics performance, had still failed to make entry-level graphics cards obsolete.
However the new $135 AMD A8-3850 was found to consistently outperform discreet cards such as the GeForce GT 520 and Radeon HD 6450. Techspot described the AMD APU graphics performance as "on another level" to Intel Sandy Bridge Core i7 2600K, calling processor 'the new budget king.'
Techspot said that while the APUs were unlikely to set performance enthusiast hearts fluttering, budget systems stood to benefit and that the A8-3850 "looks like it's going to be a real winner for AMD."

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/36570...ew-budget-king ...

Last week's Zelda-fuelled sales bump for the 3DS has proved short-lived, with the PSP regaining its hardware crown in the latest Japanese chart.

As reported by Andrisang, the PSP sold 29,168 units to take the top spot, followed by the 3DS, which was down from 40,649 last week to 27,905.

The PlayStation 3 and Wii both saw modest increases in third and fourth respectively.

PSP: 29,168 (Last week: 31,741)
3DS: 27,905 (40,649)
PS3: 16,993 (16,081)
Wii: 9,511 (6,678)
DSi LL: 4,903 (5,464)
DSi: 4,503 (5,322)
X360: 2,152 (2,875)
PS2: 1,332 (1,346)
DS Lite: 134 (109)
PSP go: 21 (55)
On the software side, PlayStation 3 RPG Atelier Meruru: Alchemist of Arland 3 came in first. Last week's number one Little Battle eXperience fell to four, one ahead of Ocarina of Time 3D in its second week on sale.

A few Western-developed titles snuck into the chart – the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 down at 13 and Grand Theft Auto IV Complete Edition at 17.

Here's the full top 20:

Atelier Meruru: Alchemist of Arland 3 (Gust, PS3): 82,585 NEW!
Steins; Gate (5pb., PSP): 63,558 NEW!
Gundam Memories: Memories of the Battle (Namco Bandai, PSP): 52,067 NEW!
Little Battle eXperience (Level 5, PSP): 38,326 (Life to date: 204,513)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time 3D (Nintendo, 3DS): 37,452 (201,563)
Tennis no Oujisama Gyutto! Doki Doki Survival Umi to Yama no Love Passion (Konami, DS): 30,234 NEW!
Yakuza Of The End (Sega, PS3): 24,247 (376,738)
Bleach Soul Ignition (SCEJ, PS3): 23,516 NEW!
Wii Sports Resort (Wii Remote Plus Pack) (Nintendo, Wii): 9,874 (362,957)
Gloria Union (Atlus, PSP): 8,933 NEW!
Pokemon Black & White (Nintendo, DS): 7,086 (5,211,443)
Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii): 5,980 (1,923,731)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts, PS3): 5,885 NEW!
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional (Square Enix, DS): 5,814 (543,834)
Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D (Capcom, 3DS): 5,633 (89,038)
Mother Goose no Himitsu no Kan Nursery Rhymes for You (QuinRose, PSP): 5,295 NEW!
Grand Theft Auto IV Complete Edition (Take-Two, PS3): 4,629 NEW!
One Piece Unlimited Cruise Special (Namco Bandai, 3DS): 4,289 (116,463)
Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 4,154 (3,249,050)
Earth Seeker (Kadokawa Games, Wii): 4,055 NEW!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ter-zelda-bump ...

OnLive wants to bring its market-leading facial and motion capture technology Contour to video games in the near future, claiming that the graphical quality is only possible using game streaming services.

The technology, developed by OnLive sister company MOVA, has featured in multiple Hollywood movies, winning an Oscar for Achievement in Visual Effects for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and most recently seen in Green Lantern, the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter and Transformers releases.

It has also been deployed in Warner Bros. Batman: Arkham City trailer, which OnLive CEO Steve Perlman described as a "test", as he hopes it will next be used for in-game graphics in video games.

"It shows the kind of capability we're going to be doing in games for OnLive, live," he told GamesIndustry.biz.

"It can't run on Xbox, it can't run on any 2012 technology, it's not going to run on a PC, so it's only going to be running in cloud based computing," he added.

"What makes this real, what distinguishes this from any other trailer, is the face. None of the other stuff is different from the sort of 3D stuff that's being done, but when you see this real human face suddenly you say 'oh my god, this is live action'".

Perlman, who also acts as president of MOVA as well as streaming games service OnLive, said it's now time to bring the two technologies together, and added that the company has proven itself to publishing and development partners with the successful roll-out of OnLive over the past year.

"This is where gaming's going, and it's going to be on every kind of device, everywhere you are, and the publishers, there are over 50 publishers that are supporting us, so we're no longer in a position where we're like 'OK, are we going to work, are users going to adopt this thing, is there an economic model that works?'"

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...to-video-games ...

Trip Hawkins has again espoused the future of the browser as the future of gaming, citing its convenience, ease of use and the freedom it affords developers as key factors in its road to dominance.

Speaking at the Gamelab event in Barcelona, Hawkins talked about the disruption of traditional game distribution channels and media which have occured thanks to the rise of social, mobile and browser-based gaming.

"The browser has already won on the PC," Hawkins told attendees. "It'll win on the tablets. It'll take longer for it to adapt to the smaller screens, the iPhones and the like, but it will."

Virtual goods, attached to a free-to-play model, will be the key factor in that rise, Hawkins feels, calling them the "most important" factor in making money from social gaming.

"What you're going to see is free to play, pay for items in the browser. That's where all the money is going to be."

A key factor in that area will be the so-called whales - those players who buy big in social games to dominate and feel superior to the players who do not. However, whilst it's the whales which are spending the money, the players who don't are just as important. Without them, the big spenders would have nobody to beat.

Developers will be afforded new freedoms in a browser-dominated industry, too - without the creative and financial pressures currently exerted by publishers and retail chains.

It's a theme which Hawkins has spoken on before, and his success in the medium lends credence to his evangalism. Digital Chocolate is part of what Hawkins refered to as the 100 million club - those companies which can boast 100 million or more play sessions across several key forms of new media: Facebook, browser, app stores and virtual good stores.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-won-on-the-pc ...

via http://www.aep-emu.de/PNphpBB2-file-...c-t-17139.html

FreeSynd is an open source project that aims to provide a free Syndicate clone (released under the GPL).


Quote:
FreeSynd 0.5 : Release Notes
----------------------------

Description
-----------
This is a prelimary release for testing and development purposes.

Changes
-------
* Correct positioning by Z axis for all objects
* Bug, too small space allocated for enhance/info cost values, destructor for Mission class was not able to deallocate briefing string
* Vehicles have people set inside
* Only driver is able to drive vehicle
* If vehicle is destroyed people leave it
* People are armed, but enemy agents are not armed correctly
* In missions, at start, where weapons are on floor, weapons should be visible now
* Small doors will open and close
* Vehicles will not move if they are destroyed
* Project is now buld with autoconf/automake
* Map menu is now completly functional
* Neon signs are correctly setup on mission load
* Correct animations for people/vehicles on damage recieved
* Instant damage, damage types
* Energy shield will not protect from Hit, Explosion
* Use of freesynd.ini file to specify application configuration
* Use of language files
* Added minimap to briefmenu
* Fixed, selection for agents killed during gameplay is not possible now
* Added information about killed during mission to Debrief menu
* When agent is killed during mission he will be removed from agents list
* Added description to mission brief in 3 more languages
* Z checking for inRange checking
* Trees animations : normal, burning, damaged now in use

Fixed Bugs
----------
* 3005295 : The tax rate for the region cannot be altered by player
* 3031032 : Rewrite animation generation procedures
* 3272545 : Team button not selected when clicking on inventory item

Features added
----------
* 3043686 : Game time
* 3072653 : Use libsyndicate data info
* 3086469 : Tax influence on countries status
* 3081550 : Minimap basic
* 3086471 : Implements Reseach functionnality
* 3086955 : Possibility to load/save game

Known issues with this release
------------------------------
* Agent AI is not operational.
* The minimap is not complete.
* PathFinding requires improvement
* Mission debriefing is not operational
* No animation for windows
* Map drawing is buggy

http://freesynd.sourceforge.net/ ...

via http://www.aep-emu.de/PNphpBB2-file-...c-t-17137.html

D2X-XL is an OpenGL-port of Descent II.
Supported platforms are Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.


Quote:
updates since last AEP reported release 1.15.232

v1.14.236

Fixed: Various bugs and flaws in hitbox based collision detection and handling were removed


v1.15.235

Improved: Static objects cannot be penetrated during collisions anymore

Improved: The ´spaniard´ cheat will not destroy geometry objects (i.e. objects with AI ´static´ and strength 0)

Improved: Geometry objects do not count towards the robot tally


v1.15.234

Improved: Static objects will now have somewhat better collision handling

Improved: Static objects will not fire back when being shot at

Improved: Static objects will be treated like geometry when being shot at

Improved: Static objects will not cast shadows


v1.15.233

Fixed: The program could hang or crash when trying to read broken mission info

Fixed: No lightmaps were computed by the non-OpenMP program version when multi threading was enabled (via d2x.ini)

Fixed: Objects with a strength of 0 caused program crashes; such objects are now handled as indestructible


For the complete changelog, please visit the official site

http://www.descent2.de/ ...

via http://www.aep-emu.de/PNphpBB2-file-...c-t-17136.html

PrBoom-plus is a Doom source port based on PrBoom.


Quote:
2.5.1.2.test @ 2011-Jun-24 22:06 - win32 build, sources
[-]Fixed buggy songs that forget to terminate notes held over loop point. SDL_mixer does this as well. Fix tested against Doom2 map14 and FreeDoom2 map01, for fluidsynth, portmidi, and opl players.

http://prboom-plus.sourceforge.net/ ...