BF3Blog reports that the upcoming and highly anticipated multiplayer shooter Battlefield 3 won’t support the aging Windows XP, because the new engine, Frostbite 2.0, only supports Direct X 10 and 11. As you know, Win XP only support Direct X 9.

We think it’s about time a major game moves away from Win XP, as it’s been the lowest common denominator when making games for a while now, as Windows Vista and Windows 7 are far better, and support feature rich, next gen visuals with Direct X 11.

Via BF3Blog.com

Most of the hype in the video game world is surrounding releases by major publishers. However, once in a blue moon independent developers come forward with a smash hit. Just look at MineCraft which started with a one man development team and quickly became an online phenomenon.

There are several different delivery methods for independent developers to get the name out their with Xbox Live Arcade being at the top of the pack. One of the year’s most critically acclaimed Xbox Live Arcade titles is none other than Limbo. This side scrolling puzzler has you following the game’s protagonist through treacherous terrain narrowly avoiding death which comes in all shapes and sizes.

For those of you who have yet to get down on the Limbo fun but are looking to do so, you will be happy to hear that the title has been dropped to just $10 (800 Microsoft Points) today. Of course, there’s no telling how long this promotion will run so if I were you I would hop on this deal ASAP.

Something pretty serious has to go down in order for a game to get canceled. The most recent occurrence of this is with EA Sports’ NBA ELITE 11 which was canceled due to extremely poor reception. Duke Nukem Forever is one of the most publicized games thought to be canceled and then brought back from the dead.

It’s been nearly a decade since development began on Duke Nukem Forever so when a playable version was put on display at this year’s E3 gamers were shocked. Despite this, we haven’t been able to pin the game with a solid release date due to no official word being said. Luckily, our friends over at both Amazon and GameStop have pegged the game with a May 31st, 2011 release date for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Is this to be believed? Well, considering it’s coming from 2 major online retailers there is definitely some heat behind it but wait for an official word before getting too excited.

via crunchgear

The new expansion for Bad Company 2, Vietnam, had a great community feature built into it: when players accumulated team actions of 69 million (like resupplying teammates etc.), a new map called Operation Hastings would be unlocked.

Now PC owners of Bad Company 2 Vietnam have become the first to reach the 69 million and unlock the new map. The Xbox 360 and PS3 users are barely half way through, which once again shows that PC is the king of the FPS games.

Remember back in the 90s, when Quake was the big thing? Yeah, we do, and we remember spending hours on the game, trying to complete it, kill all the enemies, and find the damn key cards.

A group of elite Quake players, who are apparently still stuck in the 90s, have completed Quake in under an hour, on the hardest difficulty, and also found all the secret areas. Impressive, but can they do the same in Crysis?

As you know, we love the Steam store, its simplicity, ease of use, and best of all, its great price-slashing campaigns. Here are today’s Steam offers:

• Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition – $7.50 (75% off from $29.99)
• Grand Ages: Rome GOLD – $4.00 (80% off $19.99)
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit – $29.99 (40% off from $49.99)
• Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition – $9.99 (50% off from $19.99)
• Singularity – $24.99 (50% off from $49.99)
• Shatter – $2.50 (75% off from $9.99)
• Transformers: War for Cybertron – $19.99 (50% off from $39.99)
• Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition – $10.00 (75% off from $39.99)
• Left 4 Dead 2 – $6.79 (66% off from $19.99)
  • If you own Left 4 Dead 1 – $4.99 (75% off from $19.99)
• R.U.S.E. – $33.49 (33% off from $49.99)
• Europa Universalis III Complete – $5.00 (75% off from $19.99)
• Hegemony: Philip of Macedon – $3.00 (85% off from $19.99)

Mobile gaming is becoming all the rage with smartphone platforms like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android  amassing quite a few household names (read: Rovio’s Angry Birds. However, when it comes to dedicated handheld consoles, Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s Nintendo DS are the undisputed kings.

While we known that Nintendo will go on to release the 3D display touting Nintendo DS, we havn’t heard much regarding Sony’s next generation mobile console. Today, however, renders of a so called PSP2 have appeared which you can view above. While there is virtually no solid evidence to support the fact that this in fact the PSP 2 is does beg the question: what will Sony’s next generation handheld console look like?

Considering the PSP Go was effecitvely a flop, its’ safe to say the PSP 2 will feature some sort of optical drive and, if gamers are heard, dual analog sticks much like the controller for the PS3. Then again, until Sony says anything oifficial all of this is speculation.

What do you think the PSP 2 will look like? What do you want it to look like? Let us know in the comments.

via slashgear

There are are some 12 million active World of Warcraft players out there, and most of them have not only explored everything the MMO has to offer, they’ve most likely done it several times with different classes. The new World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm, expands the universe with two new races, Goblin and Warewolf, and lots of new quests and missions, as expected. Not only that, a lot of the regular World of Warcraft has been redesigned and new items have been added –the good news is that you don’t need Cataclysm to explore those areas.

The Cataclysm expansion is meant for the seasoned WoW players who are looking to expand their characters beyond level 80, and new players are best advised to check out the regular WoW and the earlier expansions. The new classes, the Warewolf, also called the Worgen, are quite different in almost every way. The Warewolf has a dark, Victorian setting, while the Goblin has a steampunk and sci-fi inspired setting. There’s also a new profession, Archeology, and we have to admit, we had almost no fun doing this, as you’re just looking for stuff in the ground, and the stuff you find is mostly crap. We had a lot more fun exploring the other content of Cataclysm.

Like the five new zones with lots of quests and each zone is completely separate and has its own visual feel and story. One of the zones takes place underwater, another takes place in a cave etc. Each offers variety, and they’re quite challenging, especially on the higher difficulty settings. Once you reach level 85, two new player vs player zones open up and you can then take on other players.

Overall, Cataclysm has plenty to offer to the World of Warcraft fans, and even the regular WoW has been updated as well, with a free update released prior to Cataclysm. The new zones are varied and great fun, and the two new classes, while not particularly deep, are interesting and offer some new choice for those who are looking for something new. Sadly, the new profession is kinda boring. In the end, a hard core WoW player will have lots of stuff to do in Cataclysm, so there’s no reason to recommend the upgrade, as they’ve probably already gotten it. For everyone else, it’s worth checking out, as long as you’re not completely new to WoW. Then it’s best to try out the regular WoW first.

The Good:
Great new zones with lots of variety
New races are interesting with cool settings
Retains the smooth and fun WoW gameplay

The Bad:
Archeology profession is kinda boring
Not suited for WoW beginners

Overall score: 9/10

If you’ve been paying attention you may remember the Big O from Origin PC. This computer combined top notch gaming hardware with a fully functioning Xbox 360. Hardware wise we’re looking at dual Intel Xeon 5680 processors, up to 24GB of RAM, 4 SLI EVGA GTX 580 FTW graphics cards, as much storage as you want and a Blu-ray drive. Of course, like I said, it’s also got a liquid cooled Xbox 360 jammed in there so no matter the game, this beast will be able to handle it.

While the Big O starts at around $8,000, the above mentioned configuration will run you around $16,669. Yes, nearly $20,00 for a gaming PC.

Be sure to stick around as we cover the Big O during CES 2011 next week where it is expected to appear at Creative’s booth.

via destructoid

While most of the hardware thats hits the market is perfect capable in its own respect, the manufacturers behind the hardware have been known to lock down certain features for one reason or another. Manufacturers of game consoles quite evidently have been known to lock down the ability to run unauthorized games in order to curb piracy.

However, it seems that a group of hackers dubbed fail0verflow have found a “private key” that allows homebrewers to run unauthorized code on the PS3. These are the same folks behind the Wii Homebrew Channel so it seems pretty legit.

The group says they will have a demonstration of the hack during the Chaos Communication Conference 27C3. For those of you scolding the group for supporting piracy, that is not the purpose of this hack. Instead, they are just looking to enable PS3s to run Linux no matter what firmware version its currently running.

We’ll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

via joystiq