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Microsoft To Release DirectX 11 With Windows 7 -- Not Shafting Vista Customers

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:02:00 -0800

It looks like Microsoft's next version of DirectX -- its suite of gaming APIs -- will be released alongside its next operating system. Voodoo Extreme reports that DirectX 11 is likely to be released with Windows 7. The site claims:

"Microsofts Ben Basaric just told us that Windows 7 will, contrary to the rather vague statement a few days ago, be delivered with DirectX 11. Furthermore DX11 will also come for Windows Vista although Microsoft wouldn't confirm, if this will coincide with the release of Service Pack 2 for Vista."

This is great news for Vista customers and a smart move on Microsoft's part. When DirectX 10 was released with Vista, it was incompatible with Windows XP. Obviously, this pissed off millions of XP gamers. It's nice to see Microsoft taking its head out of a certain orifice and doing right by gamers.

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7-Eleven To Continue Selling Games

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:01:00 -0800

The king of convenience stores, 7-Eleven, recently experimented with selling high-profile games in its stores. In addition to getting a Slurpee and a Big Bite, consumers could also pick up World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Gears of War 2, and others. The experiment has been a success, as 7-Eleven is now claiming that it wasn't an experiment at all, but rather the start of a new initiative. GameSpot quotes company category manager for gaming and electronics Michael Jester as saying:

"This is not just a holiday promotion for us,but a brand-new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination...yet, but we're hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot-selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies."

This is great news for the gaming business. A huge chain of stores like 7-Eleven gives publishers access to millions and millions of customers. While retail shops like GameStop, Wal-Mart, and Target aren't exactly quaking in their boots, there is cause for concern. The reach of the chain can't be denied.

What do you guys think? Could you see yourself making an impulse gaming purchase along with your Big Gulp? Or are Slurpees and Madden akin to oil and water?

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'Castlevania Judgment' Review

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:46:00 -0800

Did you get enough of Castlevania after watching the review for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia? TOO BAD! We've got hot-hot-hot vampire slaying action coming out our ears. We're Castlevania squared today with this review of Castlevania Judgment for the Nintendo Wii.

Watch the review below to finish feeding your need for neverending Castlevania-ness!

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Click here to read the written review.

'Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia' Review

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:31:00 -0800

Portable Castlevania is back with 'Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.' For the Nintendo DS, Ecclesia offers you the chance to fight monsters and totally hunt down vampires. We hear the game is pretty hard. Then again, hunting down vampires is never an easy job as you've probably learned playing the 11,000 other Castlevania iterations out there.

But you should really watch this review and decide for yourself.

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You can also read the written review here.

Bethesda Working On All-Platform 'Fallout 3' Patch

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:01:00 -0800

Fallout 3, like any other game, has its fair share of bugs and issues, but Bethesda wants you to know that a patch is in the works. Furthermore, the patch is in development for all three versions of the game (PC, PS3, and Xbox 360).

"We are currently working on a patch for all three platforms," said a Bethesda representative. "When I've got more details, I'll let everyone know."

Sit tight and be patient!

What are some of the bugs or issues you'd like to see addressed?

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Giant LED Billboard Gets Test Run In New York City

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:52:00 -0800

The giant eco-friendly LED billboard that has been installed in Times Square in New York City has been turned on for a test run. The sign, which wraps entirely around the building its attached to requires 30 computers churning out 150GB of data for just 30 seconds of video.

The picture itself is supposedly running at "20 times the resolution of standard HDTV," which only makes us want to hook a console up to the display and do some gaming in Times Square.

The sign, developed by D3 LED, will usher in a new era of advertising. Now, you can have your retinas blasted with commercials and products without having to worry about Mother Nature.

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Tech News Countdown: November 21, 2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:50:00 -0800

Welcome to the Tech News Countdown, hosted by Alison Haislip. Every Friday, Alison brings you the top 5 tech stories of the week so be sure to watch the show. Otherwise, she'll be sad and you don't want that, do you?

This week Alison brings you the latest on NASA's new water recycling program, researchers shooting for the creation of a cybernetic brain, a woman who wants a webcam in her empty eye socket, Obama's plans for his high-tech Presidential limo, and a doctor who believes that we'll see a spike in births in 9 months due to Obama's victory. Sexy.

Here now, is the Tech News Countdown.

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Give it a watch and tell us what you think in the comments section. You can also cast your opinion in the Tech News Countdown forum.

Subscribe to G4's Tech News Countdown Podcast by clicking your preferred service:

'Deadly Creatures' Story Trailer Includes Billy Bob Thornton And Dennis Hopper

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:27:00 -0800

THQ introduces the story behind their action-thriller bug adventure featuring the voice talents of Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper in Deadly Creatures exclusively for the Nintendo Wii on December 15th.

Deadly Creatures Story Trailer

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Bay Area Mayors Want Electric Cars

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:08:00 -0800

A start-up company based out of Palo Alto called Better Place has a bold $1 billion plan to make the Bay Area our country's electric car capital.

Lead by former high-tech executive Shai Agassi and endorsed by all three Bay Area majors, the plan intends to install approximately 250,000 charging ports, 200 battery-exchange stations, as well as a control center that will service Bay Area electric car drivers. They hope to have the system operating by 2012.

Mr. Agassi would like to model his business plan by distributing electric vehicles similar to the way telecoms allocate cell phones. Drivers would subscribe for specific mileage; obtain an electric car at discounted rates; and Better Place owns the battery.

Better Place already has deals in Israel, Denmark and Australia to manufacture electrical outlets and stations. Drained batteries can be dropped off in exchange for charged ones at these locations.

Rather than money, the city mayors are offering expedited permits and installation of outlets in homes, businesses and public parking spaces. There's also incentives to businesses that install chargers, and goals for government fleet purchases, too.

Since founding Better Place in 2007, Mr. Agassi has raised $200 million in venture capital and has backing from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Australia's Macquarie Capital Group.

Although in previous announcements, Renault-Nissan was said to supply the electric cars, Better Place hopes to have a wide variety of brands, from GM to Toyota and even Tesla Motors.

On a large-scale expansion, electric cars can cost less than $7,000 compared to gasoline cars.

With the rapid depletion of fossil fuels, this is truly great news.

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Valve Wants to Study Your Brain

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:02:00 -0800

Valve Co-founder Gabe Newell wants to do a scientific study on gamer's brains while they're playing so they can design and develop games even better. He published an extensive article about why and how he's so interested in making it happen.

Valve is the company that brought us such fun things as The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead, and the Counter Strike series.

In that article, Newell said, among many other things:

We can know for sure of something is actually frightening the player - their heart rate is going up, their respiration stats are peaking, appropriate parts of their brains are being activated. Direct measurement of players’ arousal states and responses to the things we’re doing is super exciting. It just will allow us to be much more analytical about the decisions that we’re making and the roller coaster ride we’re trying to create for the player.

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Fresh Ink Online: Invincible, JSA Magog and Pax Romana

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 -0800

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Hi comic lovers!

In this kick ass edition of Fresh Ink Online host Blair Butler dives head first into Invincible #55, Ex Machina #39, Fantastic 4 #561, and the debut of Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special Magog.

Yet it’s the fourth installment of the elegant Pax Romana that really tickles her fancy. Though, for the record, Blair is not ticklish, so keep yer hands to yourself, buster!

Plus, listen carefully…there’s zombies afoot!

Yikes!

(...and make to check us out on Facebook and Myspace!)

'Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe' Ultimate Kollection Trailer Kontinues The Video Onslaught

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:48:00 -0800

Quotes galore in this installment of what seems like an endless stream of videos from Midway's cross-over fighter Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Heck, even a quote from X-Play pops up in this trailer.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is available now for the PS3 and Xbox 360. For those of you who've had a chance to check it out, chime in with what you think in the comments section below.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Ultimate Kollection Trailer

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Wii Games Go to Bargain Bins First

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0800

Today's flamebait article relates to how fast a game gets tossed to the bargain bin at retailers. According to a study from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, Nintendo Wii titles are the fastest to have their publisher's price-per-unit cost dip.

Typically when a retailer gets games delivered to them cheaper, they drop the price so that the consumer is more tempted to make the purchase, meanwhile they maintain their mark-up percentages. When the average selling price of a game drops by 20% for 3 consecutive months, this is called "price protection."

The study showed that "Over 7.5% of Xbox 360 and 9.09% PS3 third-party published titles go into price protection early. The Wii, however, nearly doubles the Xbox 360 and PS3s average at 15.1%... This disparity on the Wii reinforces concerns that the market has had with third-party publishers developing successful titles on the Wii," explained EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich.

Take that, Wiifans, wherever you are! Today's flamebait post is brought to you by The Xbox 360.*

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*not really

'Tabula Rasa' Shuts Off With Layoffs To Follow

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:05:00 -0800

Several weeks ago, we reported that Richard Garriott announced on the Tabula Rasa web site his separation with NCSoft, the company that he had partnered with to develop and publish the game.

More sad news..

Tabula Rasa will shut down on February 28, 2009.

Before it does, however, the game will become free starting on January 10th.

The game's website reads: "Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn't performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for."

NCSoft is going to lay off an undisclosed amount of their employees, too. Their spokesman, David Swofford said, "We're going to be scaling down the TR team in preparation for the end of live service. We currently don't know how many people will be affected by that."

As a gesture of gratitude to their legion of loyal fans, NCSoft will reward them with free time on their other MMOs: City of Heroes; Lineage II; and the forthcoming Aion. Those with active paid accounts starting 12:00 PM CST today will be contacted by NCSoft with redemption information.

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'Tomb Raider Underworld' Beneath The Surface Video: Environments

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:52:00 -0800

Witness the beautifully dangerous environments of Eidos Interactive's action adventure Tomb Raider Underworld for multiple platforms.

Tomb Raider Underworld has shipped for the DS, PS3, PC, Wii, and Xbox 360 with the PS2 version to arrive early next year.

Tomb Raider Underworld Beneath the Surface: Environments

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'Hulk 2' Likely To Have "The Leader"

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:38:00 -0800

It seems that Tim Blake Nelson is pretty stoked about the possibility of reprising his role in a sequel to this year's The Incredible Hulk. As you may know, Nelson played Bruce Banner's anonymous friend with whom he corresponded online about his "condition." Of course, he turned out to be Dr. Samuel Sterns, a very important name in the Hulk lore, as he would become the hero's most deadly nemesis, The Leader. (A transformation that we began to see in the first film.)

Nelson, also a writer and director, is currently spending his days in the cutting room working on a film called Leaves of Grass, which happens to star his Hulk co-star Edward Norton. In a recent interview, Nelson addresses rumors of Norton's falling-out with Marvel Studios, and his own eagerness to return, regardless of its outcome. Additionally, with producer Gale Anne Hurd's recent revelation that a proper Hulk sequel was in the works, his wish is likely to come true with or without Norton on board.

We talked about [Hulk] a little bit, yeah; we made some jokes about it. It’s all good, and I really do hope [the sequel] happens, for all sorts of reasons. But yeah, we did, we had a great time on ‘Hulk’ together. I’m eager to do ‘Hulk 2’ if they make it.

Indeed, Norton's status will become a bigger issue with the idea that Marvel will, from this point on, expect long-term commitments from its stars. With 2011 set to be "The Year of the Avengers," ideally they will want their Hulk to be on board for ALL of the side projects (whether it be future Hulk films, Iron Man sequels, Thor, or for the entirety of The Avengers franchise.) Hopefully for the fans, Norton will be on board, preventing any "Rhodey" casting shuffles.

However, having such standards is a GOOD thing. Marvel is definitely trying very hard to create a consistent, inter-connected "Marvel Movie-Verse." So there is hardly any room for divas and weekend warriors in these films.

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Altair Costume Shows Up In 'Prince of Persia'

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:32:00 -0800

That naughty Altair keeps showing up in other games besides Assassin's Creed... well, at least his clothes are. First, it was Metal Gear Solid 4 and now it's Ubisoft's Prince of Persia, which just went gold.

We definitely love the cel-shaded version of Altair, though.

Hit the cut for another image.

Preview New Xbox Experience Premium Themes Without Buying

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:25:00 -0800

Want to get that Fable II premium theme for the New Xbox Experience, but aren't sure about dropping hard-earned Microsoft points without seeing what it'll look like first?

The folks over at NeoGAF have made a thread with pictures that will let you get a good idea of the theme.

Check it out.

'The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria' Videos Raid Boss And Fly-Throughs

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:22:00 -0800

The latest crop of The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria videos feature a raid on the Kraken-like "Watcher" and an exploratory outing into Redhorn Lodes and The Great Delving after the cut.

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria MMORPG from Turbine and Codemasters is available now for the PC.

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Watcher Raid

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The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Redhorn Lodes

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The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria The Great Delving

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'DJ Hero' Confirmed, But Not by Activision

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:10:00 -0800

DJ Tiesto (pictured right,) a Dutch spinmaster has confirmed that Activision's suspected DJ Hero game is being made and could be released in Summer of 2009. He knows because he's working on mixing tracks for the game himself.

We've heard many a rumor to this effect, but we're hoping this means an official announcement from Activision is on the way soon. The game apparently comes with a turntable peripheral and features the classic rhythm game colored dots in a circular pattern.

Alright, time to go to school:

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