CnM miniBook redux PART 2 – miniBook Games

In the second article of this Redux series we revisit the CnM’s linux-wonder-machine, the miniBook and look at the games available.

You can read PART 1 – Online Video here and the original CnM Lifestyle miniBook 7” review here.

The CnM miniBook is surprisingly well covered in the games area, the CnM website lists no less than 9 games at the time this article was written, which given it’s small market share is not bad.

In this article we’ll be taking a look at the games listed on the CnM site, however if you have found others listed elsewhere online, then please feel free to post links in the comments.

Bitefusion

http://bit.ly/cAompQ
Bitefusion, from developer Junoplay is a Snakes clone of Nokia mobile phone fame.

Junoplay has incorporated 15 levels of play and is very simple, but very tough, just like the original!

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

LianLianKan

http://bit.ly/cX3xMM
LianLianKan is a game which is heavily inspired by the traditional mahjong solitaire game ShiSen-Sho.  Playing the game is very simple; first you are required to choose a pair of tiles with the same pattern which can be linked by a path, but the path can not exceed two turns.  If it conforms to the rules, you will win a score and the tiles will be removed. In every game set, you are required to remove all the tiles within the set time.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

Pengupop

http://bit.ly/bZrcTn
Pengupop is a clone of the poplar Linux title, Frozen Bubble (among other names) which itself is a clone of the old arcade hit Puzzle Bubble featuring two cute and cuddly dragons, Bub and Bob.

This game lacks Bub and Bob (as does the Linux versions) however it is still great fun to play, and well suited to the miniBook.

The game is simple, direct the arrow at the bottom of the play screen, shoot a coloured bubble at a bubble of the same colour (and symbol).  The shot bubble attaches to whatever you have shot it at, if three or more of the same colour connect they disappear.  Rinse and repeat this method until all bubbles are gone and you have completed the level, however should you mismatch the colours and the play screen fills below the white line then it’s game over!

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above

.

Pipe Panic

http://bit.ly/cGKYZB
Pipepanic is a pipe connecting game that promises hours of frenzied fun, while taxing your brain at the same time.

The aim of the game is to connect as many different pipes together as possible within the time limit making sure there are no leaks.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

Sudoku

http://bit.ly/cVxOW9
This is a game that requires no explanation today, as it is so very popular already.  Personally I do not enjoy it; it hurts my brain!

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

XGalaga

http://bit.ly/cQM3mY
XGalaga is a clone of the classic Galaga, a space-invaders style game with a few added features that make for a much more fun, interesting and involving game, that is well suited to the low resolution 7” screen of the CnM miniBook.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

XRick

http://194.150.201.35/cnmlifestyle/downloads/xrick.htm
XRick is a clone of Rick Dangerous, set in 1945, British agent Rick Dangerous travels to the Amazon jungle to search for the lost Goolu tribe.  His plane crashes in the jungle, and Rick must escape from the enraged Goolu.  When the game starts Rick finds himself in a cave running from a rolling boulder, a scene from the Indiana Jones movie.  Armed with a pistol and dynamite, Rick must fight hostiles and evade countless traps in three more levels.  The second level is set inside a pyramid in Egypt.  In level three, Rick must venture to the Nazi stronghold of Schwarzendumpf castle to rescue captured Allied soldiers.  The rescued soldiers tell him that the Nazis are planning a missile attack on London.  Therefore, in the last level Rick must infiltrate their secret missile base.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

Xmahjong

http://bit.ly/9L6w0L
Xmahjong is a challenging Chinese game similar to dominos.  The object is to remove all 144 Mah Jong tiles from the playing area by matching them two at a time.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

Xpat2 – Patience

http://bit.ly/dbS0qD
Xpat2 is a generic Patience game that can be used with different rule sets.  It understands the rules of the well-known Spider game, as well as Solitaire and many other card games.  It features a flexible layout that responds to window resize commands and possibilities to customize the existing rules.
Note: To play Solitaire go to the rules menu and select Klondike.

Installation is carried out in the usual CnM manner, and all required instructions and install files can be found at the link above.

So there you have it, all the games currently available for the CnM miniBook 7” Linux from the CnM website, and a quick description with screenshots (where available).

If you have found any other sources for games for the CnM miniBook 7” Linux, the please post a link or two in the comments, along with your thoughts on miniBook gaming, or anything else to do with this article.

Go on… don’t be shy!

Technorati Tags: Games,Video,Lifestyle,Bitefusion,Junoplay,Nokia,LianLianKan,ShiSen,Pengupop,Linux,Puzzle,Pipepanic,Sudoku,XGalaga,Galaga,XRick,British,Nazi,Nazis,Xmahjong,Jong,Patience,Solitaire,Klondike,miniBook,cnmlifestyle

Windows Live Tags: Games,Video,Lifestyle,Bitefusion,Junoplay,Nokia,LianLianKan,ShiSen,Pengupop,Linux,Puzzle,Pipepanic,Sudoku,XGalaga,Galaga,XRick,British,Nazi,Nazis,Xmahjong,Jong,Patience,Solitaire,Klondike,miniBook,cnmlifestyle

GetXboxCodes.com – Cheap Xbox Live! and Microsoft Points

Buying Xbox Live! vouchers to enable online play with the Xbox 360 is difficult without a credit card.  I don’t have a credit card, nor do I have any interest or need to own one, and my debit card isn’t accepted as valid payment when purchasing Xbox Live! subscriptions.
Also, I don’t want to pay the prices in the shops, so I went searching online and came across GetXboxCodes.com where I can buy Xbox Live! voucher codes quickly and easily.
GetXboxCodes.com sell not just Live! vouchers, but also Microsoft Points (the currency used to make purchases via your Xbox 360 console) at discounted prices.
As an example of the costs (which change from time to time)

• 12 Month Gold Subscription usual price from Xbox.com is £39.99
• 12 Month Gold Subscription current price from GetXboxCodes.com is £26.00 – a saving of £13.99!

Once signed up, you choose your product and enter your payment details (credit/debit card, PayPal etc).  Once your payment has been received GetXboxCodes.com will confirm your identity by verifying your address and telephone number – they’ll give you a call!  Once done, you will quickly receive your first code in your email inbox. 
From what I can tell, after making three purchases, you only need to await a call on your first purchase, after that your code is emailed instantly.  Easy.
Another great feature of GetXboxCodes.com is their Twitter account, because that is where they give away free codes for Microsoft Points.  I’ve not been lucky to receive any myself, but I’ve seen the codes go up quite frequently.
So, if you’re looking for a cheap, quick and easy way to get your Xbox Live! Gold subscription and to get involved in online gaming, get on over to GetXboxCodes.com!
Technorati Tags: GetXboxCodes,Cheap,Xbox,Live!,Microsoft,Gold,Subscription,PayPal,Twitter,Xbox,360,Gaming
Windows Live Tags: GetXboxCodes,Cheap,Xbox,Live!,Microsoft,Gold,Subscription,PayPal,Twitter,Xbox,360,Gaming

Games For Windows Netbooks Part One – Audiosurf

Netbooks are kicking up a storm these days, they’re given away with mobile broadband and mobile phone contracts left, right and centre, you can pick them up for as little as £149 (CnM miniBook) and every major, and not so major PC manufacturer seem to have at least one netbook in their line up.

So it’s no surprise that many people are looking for the right games to play on their shiny, new netbook is it?
This is the first in a multipart article that aims to offer up a few gaming choices for these low power machines, so make sure you check back regularly for more gaming gems for the netbook of your choice!

Audiosurf

Audiosurf has long been one of my favourite casual games, and it runs surprisingly well on netbooks.
The basic idea behind the game is that you match coloured blocks as you ride a track which varies in speed, incline and decline depending on the music track you have loaded.  You pick the song from your music library, or choose one of the songs included with the game and the game engine creates the track based on the song, this makes each track unique! 

It’s a great game to wile away the hours on a long train journey, and combines two popular pastimes – gaming and music!

Song 2 by Blur on Audiosurf

However, to get the best out of the game you will need to turn the graphics settings down as low as you can, but that doesn’t really matter as the neon wireframes the game creates look very good at low resolutions.  Also, it can take a bit of time to create a track the first time you load a song, but it only does this once per song so spend an hour or two preloading songs one day if you can.  lastly, if your netbook has a small solid state drive (around 8GB) it would be a good idea to load your chosen songs from a USB flash drive to save space on your disk.

Audiosurf is available via Steam at £5.99, or you can get a boxed copy at Amazon.co.uk for around £3.50 (at time of writing).

Playmesh Games – iMafia, Ninja’s, RaceWars, Vampires and Star Command

First up, I’d like to explain why there hasn’t been any new articles here for quite some time.  Simply put, I moved house and it’s taken a while to get my internet connection up and running again.  Sorry about that.

UPDATE – 17/06/09

A new forum to discuss Playmesh games has just opened up! Visit PLAYMESH FANS now!

Playmesh produce a series of small and highly addictive games for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Each game is essentially the same as the last, but with a different theme.
In this article I will describe each game.
At the end of the article you can leave a comment with your username for any of the Playmesh titles so that others can add you in their friends lists if you like! (Mine is DieselLives across all the titles, and I play the all!!)

iMafia

iMafia is the first of the Playmesh titles, and has the largest following, as such I will use this title as the basis for the description of all the titles, since they are all essentially the same.You take on the role of a member of the Mafia, and your job is to build you way up through the ranks of the organisation.  Although, other than changes to your Level number, you are not assigned any new titles as you progress.

You must equip your character with items from the PAWN (Shop), purchased using money you have earned from various means.  To earn money you can perform quests in the BAR, battle other people in FIGHTS or build a regular income by purchasing Properties in REAL ESTATE.
However, doing any of these has a negative impact on your stats, displayed in coloured bars at the bottom the screen.  For example, if you FIGHT somebody, you will lose both HEALTH as you take damage (obviously) and STAMINA, however should you win you will be awarded with either money or EXPERIENCE (required to level up).  If you lose, you simply lose health and stamina.
Your stats to replenish themselves over time, but it can take quite a while.
Performing Quests in the BAR is a quick way to earn money and Experience, however you do lose energy in doing so, so you must use your energy wisely.  New quests are unlocked as you level up, but to perform them you must have certain key items required by each quest.
For example, to perform the Smuggling by Sea quest, which will earn you between $450000 and $800000 and gain you 35 Exp you must have one Mega Yacht (costs $4500000) and one Cargo Harbour (costs $6000000) which must be purchased from PAWN and REAL ESTATE.
iMafia is now available in three different versions iMafia (the original) iMafia New York and iMafia Los Angeles.  I find it amusing that they have created different versions of the same game for different cities simply because each version is EXACTLY the same, the map, the items, the properties, no matter which version of iMafia you play – the only difference being the splash screen and the icons title on the dashboard of your iDevice!  In any case, I now play all three – did I mention these games are addictive?

Ninjas, RaceWars, Vampires and Star Command

Each of these games are almost exactly the same game as iMafia, with only subtle differences to make them appeal to more people.
The maps are different, and the titles for the different areas have been altered, but underneath they are the same.  Also, the quest and item titles are different, but each has the same value and reward.
Personally, my favourite Playmesh title is Ninjas, not because it is a better game than the others (did I mention they are all essentially the same game?) but because I prefer ninjas to gangsters or car racing etc!
For now, this is all I have to say on the subject of Playmesh titles, however I will be compiling a list of Usernames for these games, which will be updated from time to time, from the comments left on this page.
If you would like to add you name here, and the titles you use that name in, then please do.  Hopefully this will help you add to your friends lists in game.

I could have killed my gaming PC!

Its been quite some time, a matter of several months in fact, since my gaming PC started having problems; it crashing to a blank screen whenever I played a 3D intensive game.

Not really the sort of problem you would expect from a PC running an Nvidia GTX280 graphics card!

I haven’t been too fussed about it though, since I haven’t had a great deal of time to spend on gaming lately, and as such I put it on my “things to investigate later” list.

Today I found the answer to the problem, here is how I went about investigating it.

Initially I thought, and secretly hoped the problem was down to the CPU, as I have a replacement part waiting to be fitted if need be, so I tested the CPU with Orthos which puts a 100% load on all the CPU cores.  If the CPU was on it’s way to the big bin in the sky, then Orthos would surely let me know.

After Running Orthos for a couple of hours, I determined that there was little wrong, so moved on to the next, and more likely culprit, the graphics card.

As previously mentioned, I have an Nvidia GTX280 installed in my PC, a pretty powerful graphics card, and it’s pretty new, having only purchased it a few months ago.

I tested it initially with rthdribl 1.2 which is a pretty intense program for testing any graphics card’s stability.  Sure enough, within 10 minutes the machine blank screened on me.

I had a little think about why it may be causing a problem.  My PC is cooled very well, with a 120mm fan pulling cool air from the front, while two more 120mm fan’s exhausted hot air from the rear and top.

To exclude temperature as the fault, I downloaded and installed Nvidia’s GPU monitoring application, Ntune.  I was very disappointed though when I read what the program had to say.

My GPU was running at a massive 105°C!!!  Why though?  I then read that the speed of the graphic card’s fan was running at just 145rpm.  How can that be possible?

I opened the case up and took a look, what I saw annoyed me.  It didn’t surprise me, or shock me.  It just annoyed me.  A single cable, from my memory card reader to the USB header of the motherboard, was touching the fan of the graphics card, preventing it from moving, therefore allowing the very expensive card to overheat.

I was annoyed because it was a fundamental, amateur error to make when putting the PC together, by not securing the cable it had been the cause of my computer crashing, and could have potentially cost me a great deal of money.  Oh well, you live and learn.

So, now that I have secured the cable, and ran some more tests, and played a few hours of Far Cry 2, I am happy the my PC is once again in good running order.

Ntune records the idle temperature of the card at 43°C, which is far more acceptable than the previous 105°C, and peaks at around 78°C after a couple of hours playing Far Cry 2.

I hope my mistake will help you if you are having similar problems, and to learn a little lesson – keep those cables tidy!!!!

Sorry Readers

I have still not had a chance to take a look at the Quake Live Beta yet, I haven’t been feeling too well these past couple of days, nor have my children.

Plus I've been working on a new blogging project call The Anything Review, where you can have anything you like reviewed for a small fee.

At the moment though, if you are one of the first 10 to request a review, you will get it for the grand price of…nothing at all!  Just click on this link to get your free review promo code.

100th Article! - Trying Out Quake Live Beta (and a shout to Hawk12Online)

One of the people I follow on Twitter, @xwheelsx posted that he was trying out the new Quake Live beta, a browser based game based on the Quake series by id Software. 

I wasn’t aware that it had gone live yet, so tonight I plan to give it a go.

The video introduction gives the impression that it is similar to Unreal Tournament, the game that got me going on PC gaming.  If so, it should be good fun.

It also promises a half-decent skills matching service, so that you can pick a game server and play with other people at your own skill level.  As your own skill level increases over time, you will then be taken to different servers, playing against others at your new higher skill level.

Watch this space for an update later on today.

While on the subject of Twitter, please take a look at another of my followers blogs at http://hawk12online.wordpress.com/.  Ben is a 16 year old geek from Wales who seems to enjoy broadcasting, both on youtube and his own ustream chanal.  His blog makes for interesting viewing.  His Twitter profile can be found at @hawk12online.

Grand Theft Auto IV – Problems?

Kindly, my Uncle and Aunty bought me Grand Theft Auto IV for my PC as a Christmas present, and as a ‘thank you’ for sorting out their PC woes.

The other day I twittered about how I could not understand what all the fuss was about, as my PC seemed to run the game fine, with no issues whatsoever, however I have been playing the game for a couple of hours tonight and now I do understand.

Here are the specs required by GTA:IV as shown here

Supported Operating Systems

• Windows Vista (plus Service Pack 1)
• Windows XP (plus Service Pack 3)
       plus DirectX 9
       plus Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Minimum

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
• Memory: 1.5GB
• Free Hard Drive Space: 16GB
• Video Card: 256MB Nvida 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900
• DirectX 9 compatible Stereo Sound Card
• Keyboard
• Mouse

Recommended

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
• Memory: 2GB (Windows XP) 2.5GB (Windows Vista)
• Free Hard Drive Space: 18GB
• Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870
• DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card
• Keyboard
• Mouse

Now my gaming PC meets these requirements, here are my specs

Operating System

• Windows Vista 64bit (plus Service Pack 1)

Hardware

• Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8Ghz
• Memory: 8GB
• Free Hard Drive Space: 647GB
• Video Card: 1GB Nvidia GTX 280 (lightly overclocked)
• DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Audio Extreme
• Keyboard – Saitek Cyborg
• Mouse – Microsoft Sidewinder

 

Night scenes cause a little lag, especially when in areas with lots of shadows.  However, when the in game weather engine kicks off with some rain, the game becomes almost unplayable – and that's when travelling on foot!  When there is rain, and you are behind the wheel of a car, at night with rain coming down, the game is almost unplayable.

Now, as you may or may not know from previous articles on this blog, I heavily optimise my operating system, and this computer, having just been reinstalled, is completely optimised for gaming.  I can run Crysis happily at 1680x1050 with all settings maxed out in DX10 mode with no noticeable lag, however GTA:IV is a very different story.

I am a very unhappy chappy, and had I paid for this game myself, rather than having received it as a gift, then I would be asking for a refund from Rockstar.

I really hope that Rockstar, who took six months to port this game from console to PC, pull their thumbs out of their collectives arse’s and release a few fixes soon.

Here are a few informative GTA:IV links -

• Rockstar’s GTA:IV Support page
• Voodoo Extreme article
• Kotaku article

Nvidia Announces GeForce GTX295

Nvidia have announced that a new graphics card from the GTX 200 series will be released on 8th January at CES (Consumer Electronics Show).  Not just any card, this is a GTX295, a dual GPU graphics powerhouse.

For a few months the forums online have been rife with rumour and speculation over what Nvidia are going to do next, since AMD/ATi’s latest and greatest card, the Radeon HD 4870x2 stole the performance crown back-along from Nvidia’s GTX280 card.  The general thought pattern was that 2 GTX280 GPU’s strapped together, even at 55nm would run too hot, and be too power hungry to be acceptable, so people were putting more thought into having two GTX260 chips instead.

What Nvidia have actually done with the GTX295 has turned a few heads though since what they have done is taken the GTX280 chips, and strapped them to the board while running them at the speed of a GTX260 chip.  This in turn has produced a card that is both extremely powerful, but a little more conservative on heat and power.

I’m pretty amazed by this card, and cannot wait to see some real benchmarks and performance reviews; Nvidia are claiming that this new card runs 25% faster than the aforementioned Radeon HD4870x2!

Nvidia are also claiming that out of the box it will be ready to run side by side with another GTX290 in SLi, which means that you could run a scary FOUR GPU’s in your gaming rig.

My current gaming machine runs a single GTX280, slightly overclocked.  It already plays all the games I have asked of it with little effort, so I can only imagine the performance and power of two GTX295 cards in SLi.

You can read up on some more detailed information on the CustomPC website.

Gifts For Geeks – Christmas 2008 – Part Five

£-varies

Computer Games

Geeks love computer games - well, most of us do!

Geeks who like to game like having lots of games, but be careful, just as music has many genre’s, which people either like or don’t, games fall under many genre’s too.

The key genre’s in PC gaming though FPS, RPG and RTS.

FPS, or First Person Shooter is the kind of game that puts the player behind the crosshairs of a weapon, with the aim to annihilate the enemy, either in a mission based manner, or in a classic ‘Deathmatch’, which pits the player against others in arena style combat.

Games that are currently popular in this genre include Call Of Duty 4 and Call Of Duty: World At War, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead and Unreal Tournament III.

RPG, or Role Play Game is a generally an adventure game played from a third person perspective (camera behind the in-game character). RPG’s are often fantasy based, involving mythical characters and creatures such as orc’s and ogres, dragon’s and wizards and feature turn based combat.

Popular RPG titles include World Of Warcraft (WoW), Warhammer: Age Of Reckoning and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

RTS, or Real Time Strategy games are usually viewed in a top-down manner (the camera is in the sky, looking down on the game-field, and involve controlling units and vehicles with objectives to complete, such as mining ores, collecting food and taking out the enemy encampments.

Red Alert 3, Company Of Hero’s and World In Conflict are popular titles in this genre.

Multiplayer, an important aspect of gaming on the PC is featured in the majority of titles from these three key genre’s, and in all of the titles mentioned. Multiplayer components of the games require an active internet connection, and in almost all cases this means a broadband connection, not dial-up. Make sure you get this right, because if the games requires broadband, and for some strange reason the Geek doesn’t have one, he will be disappointed!

Gifts For Geeks – Christmas 2008 – Part Three

£36.82

The G9 is an excellent gaming mouse.  It has a choice of two outer casings -  the small one is textured while the larger one is smooth and broad.

The G9 is so light that Logitech has included weights for those who are used to the feel of heavier gaming mice.  The cable is braided, so it’s less likely to snag than a plastic cable.

The mouse wheel is solid enough for use as a middle button, while the clearly felt increments when rolling the wheel are ideal for precise weapon selection.  There are three sensitivity settings, the highest of which is a ferocious 3200dpi.  The thumb buttons are well situated and have a good, clean response, which is ideal for games such as Call Of Duty 4 in which they serve as ideal melee combat and grenade buttons.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

Gifts for Geeks – Christmas 2008 – Part One

Welcome to the first instalment of Gifts for Geeks, for Christmas 2008.  This series is focused on items that would make ideal Christmas presents for any computer enthusiast, modder or gamer.

So lets get on with it…

Sennheiser PC 166 USB

£63.00

Sennheiser’s PC 166 USB headset looks a bit boring, but there is no doubt as to it’s high quality.  The microphone boom allows for horizontal adjustments, and swings upwards when not needed, while the velvety earpads sit comfortably over the ear.  The PC 166 USB produces stunningly powerful bass and amazing detail into the high frequencies.  It’s a tad on the expensive side, but any self respecting gamer would love the PC 166 USB after the first use.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

Rumour – Could Nvidia be releasing a GTX260 GX2 Card soon?

I am a bit of an Nvidia Fanboy, and as such was truly gutted when I saw  how the latest offering from ATi, the HD4870 X2 outperforms Nvidia’s flagship GTX280.

The HD4870 X2 is a dual GPU card, meaning that it is the equivalent of 2 cards in a single package, by contrast the Nvidia GTX280 is a single GPU card.

So I was quite please when I read at Expreview about their claim that an Nvidia insider has leaked information that Nvidia plan to release a dual GPU GTX260 GX2 card to hit back at AMD/ATi in January next year.

What I think will be most interesting about this though, from a cooling standpoint, is how Nvidia will implement the cooling solution.  As it stands, the current single GPU GTX260 requires a dual slot cooler, but with the fabrication process for the GPU shrinking to 55nm this should enable GTX260’s with single slot coolers.  If not, we could end up with a 3 or 4 slot cooler from Nvidia, which would be no good for those who wish to use a couple GTX260 GX2’s in SLi as a 4 GPU powerhouse!

Currently I run a single GTX280 in my gaming PC, and that does not struggle with any game I throw at it, so how well will the GTX260 GX2 perform?

This is of course, presuming the Expreview are well informed, and that a GTX260 GX2 card from Nvidia isn’t just a stunt?

Share your thoughts on this below!

Don’t forget to enter the Diesel-Tekk competition – you could win a great game and other prizes!

Half-Life for less than a dollar!

You can now download Half-Life, the game that started it all, for less than $1 from Steam, until 8pm TONIGHT (GMT).

This is to celebrate the 10th anniversary, Valve have released Half-Life upon he masses at the hugely reduced cost of just 98 cents, to us Brits, with the inclusion of VAT at the current exchange rate, that is just 79p!  I downloaded mine last night, as I don’t own it yet, and am now installing it upon my Acer Aspire ONE netbook.

You will need Steam to be able to play, so download Steam here and take a look at the offer, while it lasts, here.

Top Tips - Choosing a Gamers PSU

While the average, off the shelf PC draws only a couple of hundred watts from the wall, the fully fledged Gaming PC draws much, much more.  Therefore a cheap PSU, such as those bundled in with cheaper cases in the 3-500W range are rarely adequate for use in a Gaming PC.

A PC stacked with 3 Nvidia GTX280 graphics cards in SLi, an overclocked and overvolted quad core CPU, a few hard disk drives and a 24” monitor will happily draw more than 1000W (1KW)!  This may be an extreme example, given that this setup will likely cost more than £2000 when complimented with a suitable motherboard, case, cooling, optical drives and so forth, but it highlights the requirement of a powerful power supply unit for any respectable Gaming PC.

So how much power do you really need a PSU to supply?  Well that depends on a few factors, but the most power hungry single component in any gamers computer is likely to be the graphics card(s).

 

Mid Range Graphics Cards…

…such as an Nvidia 8800GT, 9800GT, 8800 GTS or an Radeon 4850 will require a decent 450W-500W  PSU.  Manufacturers such as Antec, OCZ and Thermaltake offer some very good quality units for around £45.  I’d suggest, for these graphics cards, the Corsair VX450 which operates stably and offers excellent value for money.  It has a flashy all black paint job, and nice and neat braided cables and costs just £49.99 including free delivery from Play.com.

 

High End Graphics Cards…

…like the ATI Radeon HD4870 or an Nvidia GTX260 would benefit best from a 650W PSU.  Thermaltake, Hiper and Antec each produce well priced models, but the best choice of this range is the Corsair TX-650 which may not have the modular cables offered in the HX range, but offers the best power to price ratio, and can be found at Amazon.co.uk for £73.95.

 

Very High End Graphics Cards…

…including the Nvidia GTX280, 9800GX2 or the ATI Radeon HD4870 X2 would benefit best from a a more powerful 750W model that includes an 8pin power connector or two.  Thermaltake produce the modular ToughPower 750W which is nicely priced and has excellent performance and next-to-nothing build quality and can be bought at Amazon.co.uk for £82.99.

 

Multi-Graphics Card Systems…

Utilising more than one graphics cards in either SLi or Crossfire configurations requires even more prudence in selecting the right PSU given the obvious higher power drain.  A couple of Radeon HD4850’s or Nvidia 9800GT’s can happily run off a 650W Corsair PSU and probably requires less power than a single GTX280.

Conversely, combining two very high end cards, such as the GTX280 will require something more along the lines of a Kilowatt PSU.

Fortunately, since more and more people are getting into multi-GPU gaming manufacturers are producing more therefore the price has come down considerably compared to just 6 months ago, and you can now pick up the excellent Akasa PowerMax 1000W from Amazon.co.uk at just £149.48.

Conclusion

As the need for faster gaming computers increases, so does the need for high quality, high power PSU’s.  Today there are many choices available, and lots that I have not discussed here, but what you must always be aware of is that it’s not always about the numbers.  Any manufacturer can produce a 750W PSU, but cheaper models tend not to be able to deliver that much power in the real world and remain stable at the same time.

If you are going out to buy a new PSU for your gaming computer, make sure you spend the most money you can afford, on the highest quality model you can find. Put it this way, if the PSU is enveloped in a grey metal case it is probably not as good as the guy selling it to you is making out.  Also, if the price is cheaper than these mentioned in this article, then look for something else.  Stick to the big brands such as Antec, OCZ, BFG, Be Quiet!, Corsair, ThermalTake, Akasa and Hiper.

Elder Scrolls V out in 2010...maybe

It seems that the Elder Scrolls franchise will not die after all!  A while back Bethesda stated that they did not intend to make any further games in the Elder Scrolls series, but I guess the prospect of more money was too much to give up?

Elder Scrolls V, the fifth game in the series, was mentioned by Paul Oughton [Bethesda's Publishing Executive] while speaking to gameindustry.biz, he said ‘at the moment we've got Fallout 3 for this year and potentially there's a new Elder Scrolls title in 2010,’,

There is a short while to wait, but then again there was also a four year gap between Morrowind and Oblivion.  Both games were pretty massive, so I'm guessing the ES:V will be gigantic, and as Oblivion pushed DX9 cards to the max, even at mid settings, I can expect my current GTX280 to require an upgrade for me to get the most out of the game by the time it's released!

Hopefully the levelling system will be sorted out by the time ES:V is released, Oblivion saw bandits levelling up as quickly as your character, which really sucked!

Are you looking forward to ES:V, and what would you like Bethesda to do to make it the be all and end all of RPG's?  Comments welcomed below as always.

KernowLAN.co.uk Gets A New Look

KernowLAN Gaming Networks, based in Cornwall, holds a LAN party twice a year and can accommodate over 50 gamers and their computers for a 24 game-fest.

I am a member of the forum, and have attended the two last events, and am looking forward to the next one, scheduled to be held at some point between Christmas and New Year, with actual dates still to be confirmed.

The KernowLAN website is the best place to look for info about the events, past and future, plus there is even a forum too.

Recently though, the homepage has been turned on its head and gone from being a static html page to a funky new Wordpress template, which allows for easier changes to be made, and the integration of new content much faster than was previously possible.

With the new WP format, I can see the site getting stronger and receiving more exposure from the blogging community which can be no bad thing at all.

There are some members of the forums though, myself included, who are not overly happy with the choice of colours, the orange, described as Violent Orange by one forum member is a little painful on the eyes, and as such may cause some people not to revisit the site. Also, at present you must be a member of Wordpress to comment on the homepage content, something I personally oppose, however with any luck the webmasters will see fit to change this for the much more acceptable and traditional Name/Email/Homepage/Comment/CAPTCHA combination used on other Wordpress blogs.

Please take a look and support KernowLAN, and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Bioshock 2 - Bored Yet?

I remember the hype associated with the expected release of Bioshock. It looked great, sounded great and promised new and interesting gameplay never-before-seen in an FPS.


I remember buying the game, getting it home to install and having so many problems it was unreal. The disk came with an installer that first downloaded the game from the web... great way to get around piracy guys!


I remember bug after bug after bug, I remember 2K Games blaming anyone and everyone from Microsoft to Nvidia, ATi, Via, Creative, Adobe for the problems with the buggy game they'd put out.


I remember giving up on the PC release and instead buying it on the Xbox 360. And waht a great game it was, for a while.


At about half way through the game became so unbelievably repetitive that I got so bored I gave up. I looked up the rest of the story online (the story was good) and put the game back on my shelf and never played it again.


Meanwhile my PC version of the game has been lost at some point, but this does not bother me.


So Now the teaser trailer for Bioshock 2 - Sea Of Dreams has been released. It depicts what appears to be a grown up 'little sister' character holding a Big Daddy doll, standing on a beach looking out to sea.
I really wish I found this intriguing enough to spend time thinking and theorising on what this could mean with regards to the plot of the new game, but I don't.


Anyway, feel free to watch the trailer and leave your thoughts below.


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GOG - (Good Old Games) DRM Free Games Downloads

After spending nearly two months in the closed beta stage, classic game download site Good Old Games has now entered the public beta stages. This means that now anyone can sign up and download DRM FREE classic PC games for as little as £4 (or less).

GOG.com proudly advertises on its site "You won't find any intrusive copy protection in our games; we hate draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do, so at GOG.com you don't just buy the game, you actually own it. Once you download a game, you can install it on any PC and re-download it whenever you want, as many times as you need, and you can play it without an internet connection."

How cool is that? (EA - take note!)

Also, another great thing about GOG is that unlike many other game download sites that provided 'old' games, all of the games listed here are tweaked to run perfectly not only on Windows XP, but Vista also - another reason to quit hating on Vista!

What are your thoughts on GOG's business model - do they have the right idea? Leave your comments below.

Crysis: Warhead – downloadable via Steam

Crysis Warhead follows the Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes as he completes his mission on the other side of the island, while the original Crysis follows the point of view of the (slightly boring) Nomad.

Promising a pulse-racing storyline, as Warhead's Psycho gamers are able to customise his weapons fully, while enemies (both human and alien) are smarter than ever before thanks to the CryENGINE2 AI enhancements, they also come thicker and faster – so those of us that struggled first time round will have an even greater challenge with Warhead.

The game was made available on Steam for eager gamers to download on the 18^th September.

However to buy via Steam download it costs $29.99, which for us in the UK is £16.44, however if you don't mind waiting a few days for delivery, you can buy the game from Play.com for just £14.99 including VAT, which is by far cheaper, especially when you consider that buying from Play.com gets you a fully boxed item, complete with install DVD and game manual, something you won't get from a download!

However, in addition to Warhead, Steam is also offering Crysis as a download at $49.99, which in GBP is £27.44 including VAT.

Gabe Newell, Valve's president, stated 'Crysis is one of todays leading PC franchises and delivering the original and Crysis Warhead via Steam is landmark for the platform.' I'm not sure if 'landmark' is the correct word for this? Maybe 'money-making' is more appropriate?

Also, Avni Yerli, Crytek's managing director, stated that 'The millions of gamers logging into Steam every week to play today's best PC games are going to love Crysis Warhead,' also 'Crytek Hungary has done a terrific job creating this new experience while optimising CryEngine 2, and we're looking forward to delivering it and the original Crysis as our first offerings on Steam.'

Crytek have blamed disappointing sales of Crysis on PC gaming pirates in the past. I personally think that offering Warhead via Steam is a good endeavor to try and help curb piracy of Crytek products. Hopefully, should sales be high and piracy low Crytek might reconsider making less PC exclusives in the future.

However, my cheif concern is the pricing of Warhead on Steam. Admittedly the game carries an RRP of £19.99, so Play.com's offer of £14.99 is well below this, however if they can sell a fully boxed, physical product at £14.99 while still turning a profit, why can Steam not sell for even cheaper considering they have no physical item to sell?

In my opinion this is another example of how Britain get ripped off at every oppurtunity, not just by our own government, but also by big business in other countries.

Valve could easily offer this game at a price that undercut's Play.com, but choose not to, this is in my opinion unfair and unjust.

What is your opinion? Have you played the game? Are you happy with the pricing? Please comment below.