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by Published on May 1st, 2012 00:22- Categories:
- PC News
Typically overclocking of CPUs requires increasing the voltage to reach the higher clock speeds but a number of reports on Ivy Bridge overclocking have found that increasing the voltage rapidly results in heavier power consumption and heat.
AnandTech's report on overclocking Intel's Ivy Bridge suggested that former owners of the previous generation Sandy Bridge processors may be "severely disappointed" by the overclocking potential of the new 22nm Ivy Bridge.
"Ultimately, Ivy Bridge hates voltage," said AnandTech's Ian Cutress.
The Tech Report found that additional voltage wasn't generally necessary to reach pretty decent speeds. "The Core i7-3770K was stable at 4.4-4.5GHz without so much as an extra millivolt applied to the CPU," they said.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of Ivy Bridge is the ability to run at low voltages and consume very little power, particularly as Intel has played their usual conservative hand in terms of default voltage/speeds.
To illustrate the point, AnandTech found that the Ivy Bridge flagship i7-3770K could be simultaneously overclocked from 3.5GHz to 3.9GHz while also reducing the voltage to 0.9v volts. The result is higher performance while raising the CPU temperature just 2 degrees to 53C.
The 'undervolting' potential of Ivy Bridge probably shouldn't be a surprise given that Intel sells various postfix labelled versions of each processor which draw less power than the standard model.
Those demanding the best performance can still achieve something like 4.4GHz with the i7-3770K while hitting a heatsink temperature less than 70C. Not bad.
The moral of the story is, Ivy Bridge overclockers would be wise to read up before using similar settings to earlier Sandy Bridge chips.
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...clocker/028281
...by Published on May 1st, 2012 00:04- Categories:
- DCEmu
Over half of them only ever surf the mobile web.
Norwegian search engine Opera has been furiously driving its mobile efforts by introducing the Opera Mini browser to feature phones,adding mobile payments and updating its app store.
Given the campaign zest, it's unsurprising that – according toTechCrunch – Opera says Mini now has over 168.8 million users. Interestingly, 56 per cent of those only ever browse via mobile, demonstrating the impact of the migration from PCs.
The mobile-only web search figure increased for developing companies including Egypt, Bangladesh and Brazil which boast mobile-only rates of 72 per cent, 69 per cent and 65 per cent.
Additionally, Opera claims 35 per cent of users are likely to purchase music and games via their mobile devices than those who use another browser.
To add to the firm's impressive numbers, Mini users viewed over 117 billion pages last month, up 64 per cent on last year to generate a total of over 1.9 billion MB of data.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...m-users/017889 ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 23:44- Categories:
- PC News
45 per cent of Americans use their tablet while watching TV each day.
Nielsen Research is behind the data, which shows how much the US loves being connected to mobile media.
Almost half of all American tablet owners use the device while watching TV daily, while 69 per cent do so several times per week.
Checking emails was the highest priority with 61 per cent, with particular interest from 35-54 year olds and those aged 55+ securing 65 per cent apiece, while females bagged 64 per cent.
Social networking was also in high demand with 47 per cent, unsurprisingly peaking with 13-17 year olds at 62 per cent.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...-device/017893 ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 01:11- Categories:
- Wii U News
New evidence has indicated that the Wii U tablet controller may be struggling to live up to its original billing as a fully wireless peripheral.
The tablet was announced as a fully wireless controller capable of streaming a game's video and audio from Wii U and displaying it on the controller, but a leaked Ubisoft Wii U videosuggests the system may need to be wired to the console, in some instances at least.As you can see from the Ubisoft video (and the image on this page), the Wii U controller is clearly shown with a trailing wire, which appears to include a removable connector for a non-wired mode.
It's understood that development consoles currently feature wired controllers but let's face it, if Nintendo wanted to remove the wire from this official promo video, it wouldn't give the special effects team too much of a headache. Or, if as it looks, the wire is able to be unplugged, why not remove it?
[UPDATE: CVG reader Dean Jones points out that Ubisoft . Add that to the list of possible explanations.]
It's all speculation of course, but there have been reports before that Nintendo might be struggling with the streaming of data from the HD console to the tablet controller's LCD touchscreen.
A report last September claimed that Nintendo had rushed the final Wii U architecture through the door "with undesirable consequences" including "inadequate streaming and wireless functionality".
"So far, the wireless functions simply do not work at all," a source told 01.net, a usually reliable site for leaks. As a result, they went on to claim, developers are working with a tethered controller which apparently "still does not work properly".
Nintendo's current official line is that Wii U will only support one controller. According to a Developsource, Nintendo engineers are working hard to upgrade Wii U so that it can simultaneously support two tablet controllers.
"Nintendo now know they absolutely need to support two tablets," the site was told. "At E3 they didn't commit to this, but they know how important it is to make it technically feasible to support two screens. Even if that affects framerate, as a developer and player, I don't care. It needs to work. Developers will design appropriate games for this. If you're building a quiz game you're not going to give a shit about the framerate."
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...suggests-leak/ ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 01:06- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has expressed concerns over Mario game sales in the UK.
Speaking to investors and highlighting the UK top 20 software chart to the right, he said: "Although there are six titles for the Nintendo platforms, the two Mario titles for the Nintendo 3DS have the smallest presence in the world. We need to promptly improve this situation."We don't think Iwata means Mario games are selling more copies in European microstates like Andorra and San Marino than they are in the UK, but rather that their UK performance is relatively poor when compared to sales in other major gaming nations like the US, Japan, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.
Iwata presented top 20 lists for these countries too, in which Mario games charted more frequently or in higher positions.
The Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 3 was the top-selling game in the US and the UK during the first three months of the year, while One Piece Pirate Warriors for PS3 was the No.1 game in Japan during the first 16 weeks of 2012.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...es-says-iwata/ ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 01:01- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
Nintendo will soon release a new 'Midnight Purple' 3DS in America, major US retailer Sam's Club would have you believe.
The unannounced colour popped up on the retailer website, as spotted by a Joystiq reader, before being briskly removed again.Sadly, there was no picture or any indication of a release date, but it would appear an unlikely slip up if it were not related to some form of behind-the-scenes info.
If a purple 3DS sounds like your kind of style, hold off picking one up for a few weeks.
Nintendo recently released an important 3DS firmware update which adds folder functionality to the home screen, and support for game patches/updates.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ht-purple-3ds/ ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 00:58- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
The Vita is currently being outsold by the both the Wii and PSP in Europe, according to sales research conducted by Nintendo.The platform holder included a graph in its recent financial briefing showing individual system performance across the continent for the last three months.According to the data, which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explained is "based on sales information by market research companies in each European country," PlayStation 3 comes out on top, with 3DS and Xbox 360 neck and neck in second, Wii in fourth, PSP in fifth, Vita in sixth and DS in second.It appears that the Vita is selling around 25,000 units a week, compared to roughly 70,000 PlayStation 3s."Although the Nintendo 3DS has recently increased its weekly sales, it is far from a satisfactory level," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata of the company's own performance.Iwata also went into greater detail on software sales in specific European countries."The UK market is virtually the only market in Europe where the Xbox 360 has a strong presence," he told investors."In fact, it dominates the PlayStation 3, and it is in stark contrast to the other European markets. The top-selling titles for the Wii tell us that dance games continue to be popular this year."Although there are six titles for the Nintendo platforms, the two Mario titles for the Nintendo 3DS have the smallest presence in the world. We need to promptly improve this situation."The picture is slightly different over in the US. According to another of Nintendo's graphs, this one based on hard NPD sales data, Xbox 360 is out in the lead, followed by PlayStation 3, then 3DS, with Vita following closely behind in fourth. Next is Wii, then DS, with PSP all but dead and buried in last place."The Nintendo 3DS, which now has an overwhelming presence in Japan, also has the largest share in the US handheld game market," commented Iwata."However, considering that the US market is two or three times the size of its Japanese equivalent, I believe that the sales of the Nintendo 3DS in the US are far below the level that it could potentially reach. Also, unlike Japan, the United States still has a relatively large market for the Nintendo DS."The situation in Japan is in stark contrast to both the US and Europe, with handheld gaming dominating the market.Sales tracker MediaCreate has 3DS way out in front, followed by PlayStation 3, then PSP, then Vita, Wii, DS and Xbox 360....
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-europe-reportby Published on April 30th, 2012 00:50- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
So, Nintendo may not be particularly keen to admit it, but Super Mario is now an annual franchise. New Super Mario Bros. 2 will arrive on 3DS in August, less than a year after Super Mario 3D Land appeared on the same two screens.After 17 Super Mario titles in the first 27 years of the series' life to date, six have now appeared in the last seven: New Super Mario Bros. (DS, June 2006), Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, November 2007), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (November 2009), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, June 2010), and then the 3DS duo. That's the same number of instalments as we've seen in the Call of Duty series, at least until Black Ops 2 is unveiled.When New Super Mario Bros. 2 (even the title is hilarious) was announced last weekend, I remember saying to someone I was with: "Cool! How long before we're typing in digits for our Mushroom Pass and patching Mario on day one to fix backwards-flying Koopas?"I've forgotten my first kiss, but I remember the first time I reached World 8 in Super Mario Bros. 3.Obviously that was rather crass (Koopa Paratroopas can already fly backwards), but while it's always tempting to pretend that Nintendo walks to its own beat, there's a grain of truth in there. Nintendo is actually a far more conservative games company than many others, only adopting even completely proven technologies - like online gaming - when it can do them on its own terms, and conservatism - the desire to "double down" on successful game series - is what breeds things like annual instalments and Online Passes.As the growing frequency of Super Mario games illustrates, it's not immune to the trends going on around it - the sorts of things that people on our comments threads typically find discomfiting, which is a polite way of saying they hate them hate them hate them.Games like Call of Duty have been growing ever more accessible through ruthless testing, steering your weapon onto targets, giving you someone to follow at all times, and even allowing you to complete some levels without ever firing a bullet. We laughed, we cried, we called it bad design. Meanwhile, Nintendo made it virtually impossible to run out of lives in Super Mario games, and introduced the Super Guide and Cosmic Guide in its last two Wii titles. What's the difference?One crumb of comfort may be that the way Nintendo actually sells its wares hasn't changed much despite everything that's going on around the company; despite Online Pass, premium downloadable content, day-one patches, in-app purchases, weapon unlocks, subscriptions and pre-order bonuses. Or at least that was true, but then anyone who pre-ordered Kid Icarus: Uprising from certain retailers was rewarded with a download code for 3D Classics: Kid Icarus - and the recent news that Nintendo's to offer day-and-date downloads for its own titles on Wii U and 3DS shows it's attacking the digital market with conviction.Some games warm the soul. Secret of Mana did for me when I was a teenager falling in love with Japanese RPGs for the first time.A cynical commentator might point out that while these things have been rare up to now, that may simply be because the Wii Shop and 3DS eStore lack the infrastructure to support things like premium DLC in their current forms. Perhaps those consistently hectoring Nintendo to make its online service a bit more like PlayStation Network or Xbox Live should be careful what they wish for.Whatever its motives, however, it is also fair to say that Nintendo has rarely behaved cynically in all of this. It has made mistakes - like the costly 3DS launch shambles and subsequent apology, price cut and Circle Pad Pro release - but, while it has frustrated them over the years, its fans have never had cause to liken its attitude to its corporate adversaries and partners like Activision and Electronic Arts.It's not just a strong heart, free of cynicism, that vouchsafes the quality of Nintendo's output though. The other thing that makes a huge difference is that Nintendo doesn't actually need to offer my fictional Mushroom Pass, because people don't really trade in Super Mario games in large quantities.The reason why came to me while I was watching Hayao Miyazaki's wonderful Spirited Away last Sunday evening, although I didn't realise it until later. Spirited Away has always been aptly named, because like so many Studio Ghibli films (especially Howl's Moving Castle, by far my favourite), it transports you utterly to the place where it is set.As I've grown older, I've found new places to drown my imagination, like The Wind Waker's Wind Temple.A lot of games used to do that to me when I was younger - most notably Secret of Mana on the SNES - but it's become a more elusive sensation as I've grown older and subconsciously set higher standards. It's harder to find things that elicit that completely willing suspension of disbelief, where you can see the structure of the media you're consuming and understand the director's methods, but you give yourself up to them nonetheless.The ...by Published on April 30th, 2012 00:25- Categories:
- Retro Consoles/Translation News
This week saw the 30th anniversary of the launch of Sir Clive Sinclair's legendary ZX Spectrum - the more powerful, full-colour follow-up to the seminal ZX80 and ZX81 - and a genuine gaming phenomenon.While the Spectrum's place in gaming history is indisputable, it was not the only computer launched in 1982 that offered a generational leap in power over its predecessor; later that year, the brilliant Commodore 64 arrived to replace the lacklustre VIC-20. Coming in at over twice the price of the 48K Spectrum, the C64 wasn't cheap, but it was packed with custom hardware clearly aimed at offering arcade-style gameplay to the home computer audience. While the Spectrum dominated sales in the early 80s, the C64 began to catch up and thus the scene was set for the first great platform conflict: the basis for thousands of classroom arguments and countless playground brawls.So with the benefit of hindsight, which was actually better - the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64? On the face of it, from a technical perspective there's no real contest here. While the Spectrum enjoyed a resolution advantage, the C64's VIC-II graphics chip offered hardware scrolling and sprites that weren't available on the Spectrum, while the impressive three-channel SID chip annihilated the efforts of the poor single-channel speaker embedded in the Sinclair machine - and it was the C64 that helped define the chip-tune musical genre that is still going strong today. In short, one machine was designed primarily with home computing and programming in mind, while the other had advanced custom hardware dedicated entirely to smoother, richer graphics and vibrant sound."Commodore spent a huge part of their efforts developing the audio and video chips. Why else would you put them in there if it weren't to make games?" says ex-ZZAP! 64 reviewer, erstwhile C64 games dev and current studio head of Ruffian Games, Gary Liddon."The VIC-II chip seems to be built off of concepts that were already fairly common in arcade machines; mainly sprites and smooth scrollable screens made from character sets. Contemporary arcade titles like Scramble already had similar capabilities."Jason Page, the ex-C64 coder and musician for developer Graftgold, now heading up Sony Europe's audio R&D department, concurs with Liddon's assessment."I'd think that if the C64 was aimed at education and learning to program, then it certainly got it wrong - C64 BASIC was essentially a load of POKEs. I'd say that there was certainly an 'entertainment' element in the C64 design. If Commodore expected it to be used for games, I guess that's likely," says Page.Looking at the two major HD consoles of today, just imagine the cheaper Xbox 360 launching without any kind of graphics hardware at all, while the PS3 retained its Cell/RSX CPU/GPU combo. The technical curiosities and tweaks in visual effects work that tend to separate cross-platform games of our era would expand into an enormous gulf of difference if the same game had to run on one system with no graphics hardware support at all. To a certain extent, that's how it was back in the day on the Spectrum and Commodore 64.http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...s-commodore-64...by Published on April 29th, 2012 23:20- Categories:
- Snes News
[mdmoose29] has been working on making a custom SNES cartridge for a dubstep artist (tell us more, [moose]…). In his search for programming tools, he found theSNES Game Maker. We tried it out for a bit and it’s still a very unrefined beta. Still, making SNES programming easier is awesome.
http://hackaday.com/2012/04/29/hacka...april-29-2012/ ...- Search DCEmu
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Catherine: Full Body’s English translation for the Vita