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Breakfast Topic: Happy New Year! What are your 2010 resolutions?
Happy New Year everyone! 2009 is behind us and we now have 2010 to look forward to. This year, we'll be anticipating Cataclysm to come out (but after we take down Arthas). Speaking of goals, were you able to fulfill the personal achievements you set out in 2009? Maybe it was to go after the Violet Proto-Drake. Or it could've been to join a raiding guild and see end game content. Perhaps it was to kill Arthas (which none of us have done yet, to be fair). For myself, I set out a goal to exceed 7000 achievement points. I managed to score about 7400. Oh, another important resolution? I'm still playing the game and having fun on my priest! I didn't think I had it in me to go another year but I did! I still have that Inner Fire burning within me, I suppose. Here's my list of resolutions for 2010: Take down Arthas (on Heroic difficulty) Get the Loremaster achievement Earn (and hold onto) more than 10000 gold Finish getting my druid to 80 Start a pure DPS class and at least get it to 40 (Mage? Warlock?) What about you? What do you resolve to do in 2010?
More pixels being patched into PS3 version of Ghostbusters
High-res HDMI captures: Ghostbusters (PS3) & Ghostbusters (Xbox 360) The PS3 version of Ghostbusters was largely criticized for its inferior performance compared to the Xbox 360 version. Developer Terminal Reality told Joystiq, "The PS3 version ... is softer due to the 'quincunx' antialiasing filter and the fact we render at about 75% the resolution of the 360 version." 25% fewer pixels? Unacceptable! Atari is promising to redress the differences between the two platforms with a new patch for the PS3 version which is supposedly available right now. According to the Atari press release, the patch will offer an "increase in resolution to match that of Xbox 360" while offering "numerous other localization fixes." Additionally, the Trophies for the game have been fixed. A glitch – caused when players from Europe and America played with each other – prevented the "Pay Day" and "Capture All Most Wanted Ghosts" Trophies (and subsequently, the game's mandatory Platinum) from unlocking properly. If bustin' ghosts with your international pals makes you feel good, it might be time to fire up Ghostbusters again.
Zune HD specs fill in the blanks on video format support, battery life and more
Now that everything Zune HD is official and available for pre-order, Microsoft has seen fit to loose official specs, putting to rest -- at least until we can do a full hands on -- questions about what to expect from the OLED touchscreen packing device. From dimensions (52.7 mm x 102.1 mm x 8.9 mm, 2.6 oz) to battery life (24 hours for music with wireless off, up to 4 hours of video) and charge time (3 hours, 2 hours to 90%.) While the official site (incorrectly) currently lists max video res at barely-better-than-DVD 720 x 480, we contacted Microsoft and received the official specs on video support, and if for some reason you needed to hear it again: the Tegra chip is a beast. Ready for HDTV playback when it's plugged into the AV dock, the Zune software supports up to 1280 x 720, 30 frames per second at a max 14 Mbps bitrate for WMV HD and h.264 sources. Confirmed still a bummer? No wireless video streaming from the Zune Video Marketplace, though the specs do indicate that purchases and rentals will work across all three screens, PC, Zune and Xbox 360. Check the corrected specs after the break, now all that's left is getting some alone time with one.Update: Microsoft has hit us with the corrected & updated spec list with a slight change to battery and charge specs: 33 hours of life playing music with no wireless, up to 8.5 hours of video. 3 hours to charge from PC, 2 hours via AC adapter. Hopefully that's long enough to cover your one man rave in the woods far away from A/C outlets. Check the PDF for yourself, but beware, as Microsoft has informed us one typo remains, as the Zune HD can hold up to 22 / 48 hours (16GB / 32GB) of video optimized for the device, no matter what the official sheet says.
Zune HD specs fill in the blanks on video format support, battery life and more - Update: now with more, better!
Now that everything Zune HD is official and available for pre-order, Microsoft has seen fit to loose official specs, putting to rest -- at least until we can do a full hands on -- questions about what to expect from the OLED touchscreen packing device. From dimensions (52.7 mm x 102.1 mm x 8.9 mm, 2.6 oz) to battery life (24 hours for music with wireless off, up to 4 hours of video) and charge time (3 hours, 2 hours to 90%.) While the offical site (incorrectly) currently lists max video res at barely-better-than-DVD 720 x 480, we contacted Microsoft and received the official specs on video support, and if for some reason you needed to hear it again: the Tegra chip is a beast. Ready for HDTV playback when it's plugged into the AV dock, the Zune software supports up to 1280 x 720, 30 frames per second at a max 14 Mbps bitrate for WMV HD and h.264 sources. Confirmed still a bummer? No wireless video streaming from the Zune Video Marketplace, though the specs do indicate that purchases and rentals will work across all three screens, PC, Zune and Xbox 360. Check the corrected specs after the break, now all that's left is getting some alone time with one.Update: Microsoft has hit us with the corrected & updated spec list with a slight change to battery and charge specs: 33 hours of life playing music with no wireless, up to 8.5 hours of video. 3 hours to charge from PC, 2 hours via AC adapter. Hopefully that's long enough to cover your one man rave in the woods far away from A/C outlets. Check the PDF for yourself, but beware, as Microsoft has informed us one typo remains, as the Zune HD can hold up to 22 / 48 hours (16GB / 32GB) of video optimized for the device, no matter what the official sheet says.
Top 5: Resolutions for Nintendo
After being MIA last week, it's nice to be back. I hope you were able to get your fill of inflammatory statements and grammatical errors from another blogger. And most importantly, I'm glad you're back. While I was away with loved ones, I did like many other of my countrymen and did not hold back on food and drink. Though I try to watch what I eat, the lure of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies and egg nog were a siren's song I could not ignore. And when I make my way to the gym tonight for my semi-daily swim, I know that it will be infested with the dreaded "January Joiners." This is a term which refers to the large influx of people attending the gym in the early part of the year in a futile attempt to fulfill their weight-loss resolutions. Although maneuvering around the larger number of bodies is an inconvenience, I have no ill feelings towards this people. In fact, I wish that they'd stay all year. Sadly, I know better: they'll be gone before February. So if you've made resolutions, try your best to stick with them. Whether fitness-related or not, setting goals is a great way to improve our lives. Write notes on a calendar, set Google alerts to remind you of goals, and keep your eye on the prize. While your resolutions will best be decided by yourself, we can all agree on a few for Nintendo. Here's the Top 5 resolutions that the Big N should set for themselves. Unlike the January Joiners, let's hope these goals aren't abandoned by Valentine's Day. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Upscaling gets broken down and explained in layman's terms
Resolution+. Super Resolution Technology. Upscaling. Upconverting. You've heard it all, but what does it all really mean? Home Cinema Choice has taken the liberty of breaking down the art of upscaling to explain in-depth what's going on when pixels become slightly-more-detailed pixels. We'll leave the dirty work to the read link, but if you've been wondering just how good SD content could look (or if these upconverting technologies were simply sophisticated bottles of snake oil), you owe it to yourself to give this a look. As you could likely glean, the end-all statement is that upscaled material still can't match bona fide high-def, but it's still worth understanding the who's, what's and why's behind making your current DVD collection and SD shows look their best.
Hands-on with Toshiba's SRT REGZA HDTVs (and other old crap)
Man, what a toll the loss of HD DVD has taken on Toshiba. Judging by the vast expanse of floor space at Tosh's booth not covered with people (seriously, look for anyone in the gallery below) and the inclusion of CES-announced DVD / VHS recorders (yes, really) as premiere products, we'd say the outfit is still hurting from the outcome of the format war. In all honesty, we felt kind of sad sashaying through its installation while reading slogans like "See everything in HD (even the non-HD stuff)." We even viewed the Super Resolution Technology demonstration with an open mind, and while there's certainly a mild difference with SRT, these sets hardly make SD signals into high-def. Grab a tissue and wander through the gallery below. %Gallery-31197%
Toshiba's Super Resolution-infused REGZA HDTVs get US prices / release dates
Toshiba got official with its new RV / XV REGZA families last week at IFA, but now Tosh is debuting 'em along with a smattering of other lines at CEDIA. The main news here is the US pricing and availability, but if you care to get neck-deep in marketing hoopla, we'd be happy to oblige. The company is trumpeting its Super Resolution Technology (now available in the REGZA RV535 and XV545), which purportedly uses a "proprietary processing system" to "improve image sharpness, brightness and color, [thereby] enhancing standard movies, TV shows, camcorder movies and most video games to near HD quality." For details on how much he AV500, RV525, AV502, RV535 and XV545 sets will cost here in America, head on past the break.[Image courtesy of TWICE]
Toshiba's new ZF LCDs include Cell-based Resolution+ upscaling
As expected, Toshiba is offering a new (supposed) world's first here at IFA: a true upscaling TV, finally getting rid of the middle man for upconverting those SD sources. The new ZF Series LCDs include Cell processors and Toshiba's home grown Resolution+ technology, which does similar edge and detail enhancement to Toshiba's XDE upscaler -- sharpening detail, smoothing edges, and leaving the rest of the image alone -- but with the added fun of Cell power in the mix. As for the actual displays, Toshiba will be shipping the 40ZF575D (40-inch) and the 46ZF575D (46-inch), both offering 1080p, 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 6ms response times and Active Vision M100 HD 100Hz 5:5 pulldown processing, along with four HDMI plugs, component video, RGB and PC input. Right now this is just a Europe launch, and we don't have exact ship dates or pricing, but hopefully Toshiba will soon rectify that.%Gallery-30651%
World of Warcraft on twenty seven 67" monitors
Imagine getting ganked in Stranglethorn on that baby. Our friends at BigDownload (home of all things PC gaming) have discovered a ginormous computer screen, supposedly installed at a government office, used to play -- what else? -- the best PC game around, our own World of Warcraft. The monstrosity consists of twenty seven different 67" monitors all tied up into one PC. Unfortunately, as you can see (click the pic above for the whole thing), it's a little warped, considering that the display has a resolution of 12600 x 3150 -- not exactly a standard even for the very compatible Blizzard.But it is pretty awesome to see -- we only "wish" they'd taken some gameplay footage or other pictures so we could see this thing in action. And just what kind of rig is powering all of that? It'd be hilarious if the government splurged on the monitors but skimped on the RAM, leaving a gigantic display skipping along at a low frame rate.Update: Our crack WoW Insider Photoshop judges (one of whom has "government" experience) are calling this 'shopped. Not that you'll ever have a monitor like this, so it probably makes no difference to you, but take the pic with the usual grain of salt.
Club Penguin's screen-size conundrum
For those not keeping up on their Club Penguin developments (and why not, it's a fairly amusing and eminently kid-friendly flash-based browser game), they've recently implemented a new "Big Screen" version of the client. The gameplay area used to be about 760x480 and now clocks in by default at a robust 910x575 (rough estimates using our Print Screen-fu), allowing us to see our online penguin counterparts in greater detail and clarity than ever before.Much to our surprise however, there was not universal praise for this graphical upgrade. Mesagirl over at Ten Ton Hamster lamented the larger size playing field, saying higher resolutions are for the elderly and that the bigger size gives her headaches after extended play. They ran a little straw poll to get readers' thoughts on the subject, and the vast majority of them agreed with us that the bigger size is a positive development. It's a moot point anyway, since you just change the screen size with a push of a button. You don't hear most people complaining about the default resolutions for games like Age of Conan; the same rules apply here in this blogger's mind.
Haze says no to HD, yes to HDD
Free Radical has confirmed that ambiguously exclusive PlayStation 3 shooter, Haze, will not be the source of standard, high-definition visuals. Speaking to Ripten, Creative Lead Derek Littlewood explained that, much like other sub-HD games, the 1024x576 resolution was chosen to ensure "a nice smooth framerate." Says Littlewood: "Well, as you develop an engine you're aiming for a certain thing, but as all the pieces slot into place, you end up realising what sort of resolution you can run it at and that's where we ended up with for Haze."Though the PlayStation 3 will upscale 576p images to 720p (1280x720), it's unlikely to provide Free Radical's penance in the eagle eyes of pixel-counting pedants. With any luck, people will be too busy complaining about geebees to notice the lack of pees, as Ubisoft also confirmed that Haze will require a 4GB installation. Look forward to discussions involving the game's more obscure features (gameplay, story, blah blah blah) once it's out on May 20.[Via Eurogamer]Read -- Not very many PsRead -- Too many GBs
More pixel counting: Haze runs at 576p
It appears that many games this generation aren't meeting the 1080p HD standard that Sony set on PS3. Heck, many games aren't meeting the standard 720p HD resolution, either. For example, Grand Theft Auto IV runs at 640p on PS3. While these kind of shortcomings don't impact the overall visual fidelity, many gamers are still up in arms about these missing pixels.Haze is the next game to fall under the careful watch of videophiles. The recently released demo, when scrutinized, is shown to be running at 576p. Free Radical's Derek Littlewood confirmed to Ripten that the final game also runs in a lower resolution. "That's where we ended up with for Haze ... but I don't understand why people care whether there's 20 pixels, 50 pixels, or 100 pixels more."Other games, like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 on Xbox 360, have used lower resolutions to improve overall visual effects. It should be up to every gamer to decide, with their own eyes, whether or not the lowered resolution has created a diminished visual experience for Haze.[Via Digg]
PS3 Grand Theft Auto IV is 640p, nobody cares
As a news blog it's kind of our job to bring you tidbits like this, but it doesn't make it any more tantalizing, especially when we know the maelstrom of dumb things like this can cause. But here it goes: Thanks to the denizens of this forum thread, we now know that the PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV runs at 640p, as compared to the Xbox 360's 720p *ducks*.Before you start hunting for your fancy pitchfork, let us remind you that until 17 seconds ago this problem didn't bother you at all. And because of some of the processing effects, some people even insist that the PS3 version looks better to them! But hey, if you need something to get angry about, far be it from us to take that from you.[Via PS3F]
ASUS P750 secretly packing VGA resolution?
Here's one you may not have heard before: a manufacturer decides to stick a VGA touchscreen in some handset model not because it wants VGA resolution, but just because it got a killer deal on them. That's the rumor being floated on a handful of sites and forums about ASUS' monster P750 Windows Mobile 6 Professional device, with some sharp-eyed contributors noticing that each logical pixel on their devices' screens are actually comprised of -- count 'em -- four physical pixels. Indeed, a quick glance of the spec sheet for the alleged part number used reveals a "VGA/QVGA dual viewing mode," so the story seems to check out, and folks are apparently already hard at work enabling full 640 x 480 resolution on their beloved devices. Good luck, everyone!
Tabula Rasa resolution hotfix live
Well, it took quite a bit of concerted bitching, but it looks like the worst of the effects from Tabula Rasa's patch 1.5 have been addressed. A hotfix went live this morning which corrected the issues people were having with the resolution automatically resizing to 1158x864 every time the client was restarted. The patch notes say that some players may still experience problems if they run the game full screen at resolutions of 1280x960, but I got the game running silky smooth on my GeForce 7600 at 1440x900, so it's probably a driver issue affecting very specific cards. If anything, I've actually noticed a performance increase in graphic-intensive outdoor areas, so this patch is quite welcome indeed.Also coming as part of the hotfix is a respec for the Spy class, whose abilities underwent a number of changes in patch 1.5. This change is perhaps the stranger of the problems fixed. It was not a coding or optimization error, as with the resolution problem, but simply a lack of foresight on the developer's part. One wonders how they didn't initially foresee the need for a respec, but were so quickly able to amend their position once the patch went live? It's very strange, but hey, kudos to them for seeing the light.
DirecTV and Comcast make amends, settle HD survey lawsuit
Apparently, DirecTV isn't looking to pay its lawyers any overtime over the holiday break, as it has been settling outstanding lawsuits recently like it's going out of style. Just over a week after it put aside its differences with Cox, the satellite provider has decided to make amends with Comcast over a suit filed in May. If you'll recall, DirecTV was quite flustered by Comcast's "survey," which allegedly found that two-thirds of respondents preferred Comcast's HD picture over that offered up by DISH Network / DirecTV. Notably, the actual terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but spokespeople from both outfits affirmed that they were satisfied with the outcome -- which, by the way, does allow Comcast to continue to cite the survey.
COD4 missing 120 p's, not running in HD
We're not sure what exactly is going on, but it seems like developers just can't get the hang of wrangling their p's. First, Halo 3 is discovered to be only 640p and now, according to a (very long) upscaling discussion on the Beyond 3D forums, Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360 is not running in 720p resolution. No, in fact, it is running in (gasp!) 600p. That's 120 p's missing. Where did these p's go? Have their families been notified? These are questions that need answering. Wait, what's that? The game is running with 2X anti-aliasing? Oh, well never mind then. Screw those p's. We never liked them anyway.[Via Evil Avatar]
The case of the missing resolution independence
What the heck happened to resolution independence?In Gruber's review of the Powerbook a few years ago, he trumpeted the coming of a feature long evading the Mac faithful, a resolution independent interface. Others at the time expected the same thing to appear in Leopard: UI elements that were completely independent of the screen's resolution, and, finally, a fully scalable interface, and freedom from whatever screen you were working on. Higher resolutions without squeezing down the UI elements. And as we got closer to Leopard, more and more word went around that OS 10.5 would have it. At WWDC 2006, some developers even confirmed it. And Apple even filed a patent to get it done.Except now it's November, Leopard is out, and resolution independence is nowhere to be found, at least at the user-accessible level. What gives?
Bungie: Halo 3 resolution cut for HDR lighting
Following last week's debacle over Halo 3's apparent resolution deficiency, the folks at Bungie have come out pleading their case, stating that the game's visual acuity was given a back seat to HDR, or "High Dynamic Range" lighting, which allows for a broad range of exposures, making possible much greater extremes of light and dark. So make up your mind. Do you want things crisp or do you want them to glow, because apparently you can't have it both ways. Bungie explains its decision in the following excerpt:"In fact, you could argue we gave you 1280 pixels of vertical resolution, since Halo 3 uses not one, but two frame buffers – both of which render at 1152x640 pixels. The reason we chose this slightly unorthodox resolution and this very complex use of two buffers is simple enough to see – lighting. We wanted to preserve as much dynamic range as possible – so we use one for the high dynamic range and one for the low dynamic range values. Both are combined to create the finished on screen image."You hear that? You owe them -- not the other way around. While we agree that Halo 3 is not the graphics showpiece many hoped or expected it to be, we still say that all this fuss over "80p" of resolution is at best splitting hairs and at worst just ridiculous.
