PLAYING VIDEO GAMES IS GOOD FOR CHILDREN

According to the British news site The Telegraph, Oxford University recently found that a small amount of regular video game play can be beneficial for teens and children.

Conducted on nearly 5,000 children aged 10-15 with varying levels of game playing habits ranging from no time spent playing to multiple hours per day, the study concluded that children who spend an hour or less each day playing video games tended to be better adjusted and happier individuals.

"Young people who engaged in a little video game playing were associated with being better adjusted than those who had never played or those who were on video games for three hours or more," the study said. "Those who played video games for less than an hour...were associated with the highest levels of sociability and were most likely to say they were satisfied with their lives. They also appeared to have fewer friendship and emotional problems, and reported less hyperactivity than the other groups."

The study went on to explain why the games these children played were beneficial, stating that the games gave the kids "a wide range of novel cognitive challenges, opportunities for exploration, relaxation, and socialization with peers" that rivalled the benefits of "non-digitally mediated" forms of play.

The children who engaged in moderate amounts of play spanning from one hour to three were found to display no positive or negative effects, while children who played "excessive" amounts of more than three hours a day were found to be less well-adjusted than their counterparts. The study suggests, however, that this was largely due to the fact that the children missed out on other "enriching activities" and were possibly exposed to themes and content better suited for adults in their gaming time.

The study also mentions that factors such as family life and personal relationships tended to have a much more significant effect on a child's behaviour than their game-playing habits.

Report author Dr. Andrew Przybylski concluded that the effects on children both positive and negative were relatively small, which indicates that "both the broad fears and hopes about gaming may be more exaggerated."

Article by Cassidee Moser.

DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ makes it easier to grab smooth aerial video, photos

DJI's Phantom 2 Vision is pretty much the benchmark for ready-to-fly (RTF) quadcopters for aerial photos and video. Well, it was the benchmark until the new Phantom 2 Vision+ arrived.

The quadcopter itself seems unchanged from the Phantom 2 Vision. You'll find all the same convenience features like color-coded, self-tightening propellers for easy installation and replacement, and a slot-loading battery pack (no connectors to mess with here) that delivers up to 25 minutes of flight time. If you don't stop to charge up its batteries or read the manual, it can go from out of the box to up in the air in about 10 minutes.

The camera on the Vision+, though it looks different, also seems to be the same, at least in specs: an f2.8 lens paired with a 14-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor that can capture Adobe DNG raw or JPEG images and video at up to 1080p at 30fps. You can also control ISO, exposure compensation, and white balance, and choose from 140-, 120-, or 90-degree field of view.

 

 

The biggest change is what is supporting the camera. With the original Vision, the camera was on an antivibration platform stabilized only on the tilt axis and the tilting range during flight (remotely controlled through the mobile Vision app) had a range of 60 degrees. The Vision+, however, has a three-axis gimbal similar to the one available for use with a GoPro camera on the Phantom 2.

The gimbal actively stabilizes the camera in roll, pitch, and yaw directions keeping the video looking smooth even with sudden movements. Plus, the camera can now do a 90-degree tilt letting you shoot straight down.

DJI PHANTOM 2 VISION+

 

 

 

The quadcopter's integrated GPS autopilot system allows it to hover at a specific altitude and hold its position so you can get the exact shot you're after. The GPS also gives you a return-to-home fail-safe that will signal the Phantom to fly back to your takeoff spot and land in case you travel out of range or simply panic.

And if you're after more of a drone experience, the Phantom 2 Vision+ is fully compatible with DJI's Ground Station capabilities, which lets you plot a GPS path for the Phantom to navigate autonomously.

Also new for the Vision+ is increased range for the Wi-Fi extender. Sitting on a bar attached to the radio controller, the extender delivers the first-person view from the Vision+ camera to an Android or iOS device using the DJI Vision app (that can also be clamped on the controller). The Vision was capped at 300 meters, but the Vision+ can travel up to 700 meters (2,296 feet) away.

The app not only lets you pilot from a first-person perspective and control the camera, but it's also what delivers important telemetry and flight information such as altitude, direction, flight distance, and speed.

Lastly, DJI added a safety feature to prevent flights that are too close to large and small airports.

We'll have a full review in the near future, but if you know you want one, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ is available for pre-order for $1,299.

Article by Joshua Goldman

Nvidia announce GeForce GTX Titan Z, brings 12GB VRAM for $3,000

Nvidia are currently on-stage at the GPU Technology Conference (think GDC for people who really love cores). They've just announced the GeForce GTX Titan Z, a $3,000 dual-Keplar GPU graphics card that can supercharge PCs with a total of 5,760 processing cores, and 12GB frame buffer memory. To my untrained eye, then, it essentially sounds like two Titan Blacks duct taped together. I'm sure that in practice it's a little bit more complicated.

A press release from Nvidia explains why their dual-GPU solution is such an attractive prospect for super-high def gaming. "Unlike traditional dual-GPU cards, Titan Z’s twin GPUs are tuned to run at the same clock speed, and with dynamic power balancing. So neither GPU creates a performance bottleneck. And that performance is delivered in a card that is cool and quiet, rather than hot and loud. Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels minimize turbulence and improves acoustic quality."

However they're tuned, it's a serious amount of money. A single GTX Titan can be secured for around $1,000, so you'll be a paying a heavy premium for Nvidia's tweaking. The company say they're building the Titan Z for "next-generation 5K and multi-monitor gaming", so are clearly targeting those prepared to go large in their home rig.

The announcement comes ahead of AMD's own dual-GPU reveal, which is expected to be made later this week.

GDC's alternative arcade: a gallery of crazy, homemade game controllers

The idea of the gamepad is so entrenched in our mind, it's easy to forget that there are other ways to play video games. No, we're not talking about the PC gamer's keyboard and mouse, or even the traditional arcade stick -- but custom, purpose built controllers made to augment a specific experience. At GDC 2014, we found an interactive gallery full of them. The event, Alt.Ctrl.GDC serves as a showcase for indie game experiences that aren't fully accessible without specialized hardware, but to us, it was simply an alternative arcade of creativity.



The wooden control board for Analog Defender looks more like a missile control console than video game, but it had our attention right away. The complicated array of arcade buttons, protected toggles and switches control a complex Space Invaders clone, tasking players with managing power, weapon modes and special attacks by frantically mashing buttons and changing analog input plugs. The learning curve is steep, but the novelty of the controller makes it an easy climb -- the experience is fresh, despite the game's nostalgic familiarity.



Not every controller in the showcase was custom built from wood, switches and spare wire: Rakete, a collaborative moon lander game, cannibalized old guitar pedals to give four players their own rocket accelerators. The game forces four pilots -- each controlling only one thruster -- to work together to keep their craft aloft.



Some of the hardware we saw was familiar, too. Please Don't, Spacedog uses a MIDI controller to explore the body-displacement effect of the Oculus rift -- challenging players to use a complex controller without being able to physically see their hands. It's also probably the world's only canine-astronaut simulator.



Of course, you don't need an Oculus Rift to create a virtual reality. The designers behind Roflpillar used a sleepingbag, some pulleys and a sensory isolation tent to create a two-player caterpillar simulator. Frankly, it's pretty intuitive: wiggle to move. It's also hilarious.



Ever thought you'd play a video game without a screen? Now you can -- but you'll need some help. Bonus Look is a game that splits the functions of a computer between two players, giving one player the screen and arrow keys and the other almost everything else. The "pilot" controls the player character's actions, but can't get more than a few steps without the help of the blind "wizard." The screen-less second player also has access to a cryptic ASCII map, burned into a sheet of wood. It's an absolutely bizarre twist on cooperative gameplay, but figuring it out is half the fun.



Speaking of games without screens, Choosatron was easily one of our favorite games in the exhibit. This "deluxe adventure matrix" is pretty simple under the surface: four buttons, a thermal printer and an Arduino board -- but it was enough to turn choose-own-adventure fiction into a passable game. Plus, players get to keep their freshly printed epic for posterity, and we're suckers for souvenirs.



Alternative controller types don't always mean alternative games, either. Canabalt 100p offers the same endless running experience we all know and love -- it just adds a few dozen extra runners. The game uses a standard MIDI keyboard as a control device, assigning each piano key to a specific avatar. Just how manycharacters you can play as depends on the size of the piano, so sadly, our demo fell short of the promised 100.

Alt.Ctrl.GDC's exhibit of quirky controllers isn't likely to rock the industry, but its perspective on gaming is refreshing. By discarding the standards we've grown accustomed to, it creates an opportunity explore the idea of what electronic gaming is. We often think about the visual aspect of the experience -- but how we experience the game is just as important as how the game looks. Sometimes, the controller makes (or breaks) the game.

Article by Sean Buckley

Titanfall on PCs will soon support 4K and NVIDIA's latest graphics tricks (update)

Many gamers already argue that the PC version of Titanfall is the best-looking of the bunch. Pretty soon, though, it won't even be a contest. Respawn plans to update its robotic shooter to handle both 4K displays as well as a host of technology from NVIDIA's GameWorks program, including full support for multiple GeForce cards, improved antialiasing and more realistic shadow effects. The upgrades aren't all that surprising. Some modern video hardware is powerful enough for 4K gaming, and developers have already used GameWorks to spruce up flagship titles like Assassin's Creed 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts. Still, the visual improvements are bound to make a big impact -- Titanfall is one of the most important games of the year, and a good excuse to pick up a new gaming rig.

Update: Right now however, Titanfall is getting some tweaks on its servers that will change how it plays on PC and Xbox One. The updates will roll out over the next day, but you can see a changelog on Respawn's forums here. There are a number of fixes and updates included, and among them it appears the controversial Smart Pistol is having its effectiveness reduced, with slightly lower accuracy from hip fire and decreased damage when it's not locked-on. A troublesome glitch that allowed Burn Cards to be duplicated has also been fixed, and point values for certain actions in Hardpoint and Capture The Flag games have been adjusted.

FREE TO PLAY

Free to Play is a feature-length documentary that follows three professional gamers from around the world as they compete for a million dollar prize in the first Dota 2 International Tournament. In recent years, e-sports has surged in popularity to become one of the most widely-practiced forms of competitive sport today. A million dollar tournament changed the landscape of the gaming world and for those elite players at the top of their craft, nothing would ever be the same again. Produced by Valve, the film documents the challenges and sacrifices required of players to compete at the highest level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZYMI1zB9s

The Free to Play Competitor's Pack will also be available for purchase on Steam and the Dota 2 Store on March 19th, 2014. 25% of the sales will be distributed to the players featured in the film as well as the contributors. The Free to Play Pack will include the following:

• Fear's Sven Set - Created by Jeremy Klein, Ziedrich


• hyhy's Doom Set - Created by Vermillion Wlad


• Dendi’s Pudge Set – Created by Danidem, Bronto ϟ Thunder


• Free to Play Wards – Created by Valve


• Free to Play HUD – Created by Valve


• Free to Play Courier – Created by Valve

About the Players

• Dendi: Born in L’viv, Ukraine, Dendi began playing video games at a young age after his older brother received a PC from their grandmother. As he had with his other early interests in life, music and dancing, Dendi picked up games very quickly and was soon excelling far beyond his age bracket. The prodigious dexterity earned through long hours of piano study was soon put to use in local gaming tournaments where he earned a reputation as a dominant and creative competitor. Though he was successful at other games, he knew he found his calling when he stumbled upon Dota.


• hyhy: If you’ve followed the development of Singaporean Dota, then Benedict “HyHy” Lim is a name that is familiar to you. Born in Singapore on 1990, HyHy’s rise to prominence began when he and teammates represented Singapore in the 2007 Asian Cyber Games. The following year, he was victorious in the Electronic Sports World Cup. Since then his body of work has become a pillar in the Dota 2 community. Never one to shy away from controversy, HyHy speaks his mind, and has made a name for himself as one of professional gaming’s most driven and versatile players.


• Fear: Arguably among the most formidable Dota 2 players to ever come out of the Western Hemisphere, Clinton “Fear” Loomis, has never had an easy path in front of him. Ever the underdog, he’s used a balance of raw skill and hard-earned experience to overcome the isolation that US players often face when they compete at the highest level. Born 1988, his work ethic and dedication have taken him from Medford, Oregon to Europe, to China, and finally to the Dota 2 International, the tournament with the largest prize pool in the history of video games.

Catch more action on Steam by clicking o this link for Free to play.

And Join us on Steam as ATSCOM.

Article by Praneet Rai

Using the PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus

The cat's out of the bag and... uh, on our head? Okay, we can do better than that, but what we're trying to say is that we just used Sony's new PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset: Project Morpheus. You already know the specs and all that good stuff; we're here to tell you what it's like using the still-in-prototype-form virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4. Good news: It's pretty great! Surprise!

 

Project Morpheus, right now, is a little uncomfortable. In so many words, it feels like a prototype still. As a demo man fit the headset on my generously sized noggin, he tightened a variety of different adjustments: one that tightened the whole unit on my head, another that brought the display portion forward toward my eyes. When you initially put it on, there's a gap between where you're looking and below -- certainly not a great way to create immersion. Thankfully, that gap closed easily in the two different demos we tried (The Deep and The Castle -- both of which were more tech demo than game).

I'd love to say it was a sweat-free experience; between gesticulating with PlayStation Move controllers as hands and being surrounded by hundreds of GDC attendees waiting for their chance to try Morpheus, I was relatively moist by the time I'd cut up the dummy model in The Castle with a virtual sword. While uncomfortable, I can get over that -- the issue is that it makes the optics fog up and that's no good at all. Part of the unit's design is based around keeping players cool, so you should expect a better experience as Morpheus goes from prototype to reality.



So, games! What's it like using Morpheus to play games? It's pretty neat! Well, that's to say, "It's a lot like playing games in the Oculus Rift headset, especially the newer versions of the Rift." In The Deep, I took a trip to the bottom of the ocean in a metal cage; when I bent down, my in-game knees bent (as tracked by the PlayStation Camera). When I looked up, my perspective turned skyward and the lamp mounted to my virtual head followed (the lighting was perhaps the most impressive part, with cage bars occluding properly and all).

In The Castle, I picked up two PlayStation Move controllers to act as hands, which enabled me to bend over, pick up a sword and take a dummy down a few notches. If I moved back a few steps, my in-game avatar moved back a few steps. One major change in Morpheus compared with other VR headsets is full-body tracking, which does legitimately add to the immersion effect.



It's not all virtual reality rainbows and dreams, of course. There are still some pretty major issues to overcome in Project Morpheus. Vision blur, for instance, is a much bigger problem on Morpheus than on Crystal Cove/Rift DK2. The screen resolution is also clearly not as high as DK2, making everything a bit muddier, visually speaking. Right now, well ahead of launch (Sony's not even talking about what the final product will be just yet, nonetheless giving it a launch window), Project Morpheus is both extremely promising and clearly not ready for prime time. But it's close!

To put it frankly, we're extremely excited to see what the next few years mean for the entire medium of VR, not to mention the efforts of major players like Sony, Valve and Oculus. Morpheus is the second major entry in the field, and, well, that's really thrilling! In case it weren't already clear, this is the week that virtual reality officially goes big.

Article by Ben Gilbert

'Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 now available by subscription for $19, headed to OS X and more

Unreal Engine 3 set the standard for games last generation, powering breakout franchises like Gears of War and Mass Effect. We don't know if Unreal Engine 4 will have the same impact, but today's move by Epic Games to massively democratize this game engine is certainly a step in the right direction. Today, Unreal Engine 4 is going subscription: For $19/month you get, "access to everything, including the Unreal Editor in ready-to-run form, and the engine's complete C++ source code hosted on GitHub for collaborative development." That's according to Epic Games head Tim Sweeney, who spoke at a GDC event this morning. Any game published commercially must also pay 5 percent of gross profit to Epic (which could get lucrative very quickly for Epic). It's a move aimed directly at the evolving world of contemporary game development, where indie hit-makers like Jonathan Blow take the stage at Sony's PlayStation 4 unveiling in place of triple-A studios. We were shown a simple Flappy Bird clone for iOS, for instance, as an example of the flexibility of UE4 (the demon lord seen above is an example of the other end of the engine).

Beyond the subscription service and full access to the source code (which is a big move unto itself), Unreal Engine 4 is getting OS X support. There's also evidence in the source code that Epic's working on Oculus Rift, Linux, Steam Machines and HTML5 support. But we already kinda knew all that, right? So we asked Tim Sweeney for a deeper dive into today's news and what it means for Epic Games as both a game engine maker and a game studio. Head below for the full video!

 

Article by Ben Gilbert

Playing video games well can get you into a top South Korean university

Chung-Ang University ranks among the top 10 schools in South Korea, and you know what can get you in other than good grades and connections? Being really,really good at video games. Beginning next year, professional gamers can apply for a spot at the university's Department of Sport Science. Since that department's also in charge of students with more traditional sports backgrounds (you know: soccer, basketball, snowboarding etc.), it's safe to say Chung-Ang recognizes the more sedentary players as athletes, as well.

While this news might sound like something from The Onion, it's not such a bizarre development for a country where competitive gaming is huge -- players train as hard as any athlete and matches are even shown on TV. In fact, gaming in the country is big enough that US immigration officials (after some convincing, anyway) granted a couple of pro-gamers athletic visas in the past. With a school possibly honing players' skills even more, we wouldn't be surprised if the immigration ends up giving out more pro-athlete visa in the future.

Article by Mariella Moon

'Project Morpheus' is Sony's virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4

The rumors are true: Sony's working on virtual reality. The hardware is called "Project Morpheus" and it's headed to the PlayStation 4. The headset is two pieces: a closed display and what looks like a PlayStation Move sensor built in. SCE Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida unveiled it on-stage tonight at GDC 2014; he said the "prototype" is "by no means final." It's the culmination of over three years of work, Yoshida said, and the prototype unveiled tonight will also double as a dev kit.

As seen above, a subtle PlayStation-themed blue light is emitted by Morpheus. A single wire can be seen exiting the unit on-stage; apparently carrying both an HDMI and USB connection. Sony's clearly drinking the VR Kool-Aid: there's serious talk about "presence" on-stage (the term Valve coined as the target for "true VR"). What are the specs in the headset? It's got a 1080p display and just over a 90-degree field of view. There's positional head tracking, a 3-meter working volume with full 360-degree tracking that works with the PlayStation Camera, and games can recognize the PS Move controller as a virtual object. In terms of audio, the device has "true spatial sound" using binaural audio -- pretty neat! It's also apparently "highly adjustable" and supports custom headphones if you'd prefer your own audio choice (it plugs right into the headset). Head below for more!



The current dev kit is wired, though the wire is "very long" (around five meters, we're told). The dev kit also has a "breakout box" between the headset and your television (akin to the original Oculus Rift dev kit).

PlayStation R&D engineer Richard Marks dug into the nitty-gritty a bit: He said Morpheus needs a high-resolution, high-quality screen ("no problem," he quipped), great sound (SCE is developing binaural tech to produce sound, incorporating that into the experience), tracking (he pointed out that the PS4 camera is "almost custom-built for VR"), and control (Sony's sticking with DualShocks, cameras and Move, apparently).

Project Morpheus specs:

Component: Processor unit, head-mounted unit
Display Method: LCD
Panel Size: 5 inches
Panel Resolution: 1920×RGB×1080 (960×RGB×1080 per eye)
Field of View: 90 degrees
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope
Connection interface: HDMI + USB
Function: 3D audio, Social Screen

Marks admitted that VR needs to be easy to use -- as in, as simple as picking it up off the coffee table and quickly jumping in. So, perhaps no wire then? That's still unclear. He finished with a plea to devs to create content for Project Morpheus, "which is why we're announcing this at GDC." Sony's already working with a handful of devs, including Epic Games and Crytek. We expect it won't be too long before the large world of game devs jumps in.

Project Spark lets users build game worlds with Kinect voice control and SmartGlass

Hoping you'd get to do some casual game building on the Xbox One? Microsoft Game Studios' newly revealed Project Spark may be for you. It'll allow users to craft their own digital spaces using Kinect Voice controls to add topographical features like mountains, plains and rivers, while fine tuning things with fingers through SmartGlass. Of course, the look of the world isn't all you can manipulate, as Project Spark also lets you create logic and rules for the objects and characters in your personal digital utopia. Oh, and if you aren't planning on grabbing a One right away, the game looks to be coming to PCs running Windows 8 as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Microsoft's Project Spark beta now open to all wannabe game makers (video)

If you haven't had the chance to make the Flappy Bird or Minecraft clone of your dreams just yet, Microsoft is removing the final barrier to Project Spark's entry. The game-creation title's been in open beta for a bit, but now you can download it directly from the Xbox One dashboard -- no waiting required. Should you need something to, ahem, spark your creativity, the embedded trailer's montage of user-creations set to a Linkin Park song might do the trick. If that somehow doesn't help, Major Nelson will be joining the dev team on its Twitch stream this week, and you can pick his brain for ideas there. Or, maybe just kick back while Xbox's blogger plays the game (where he'll presumably make a game) on your game console. It's all up to you!

 

AMD's Kaveri APU With Radeon R7 Graphics Targets Mainstream, Power-Efficient Computing

AMD officially launched their next generation Kaveri processor today, finally realizing a long term vision of the company to fully integrate CPU and GPU resources on a single, monolithic chip architecture with a shared memory resource. Kaveri marks a number of firsts for AMD, though they’ve released many integrated APUs (Application Processing Unit) in the past.  For starters, Kaveri is the first APU from AMD to incorporate the company’s GCN  (Graphics Core Next) architecture that is found in their “Hawaii” series of GPUs for desktop gaming (Radeon R9 290 series).



Specifically, there is a 8-core GCN implementation in Kaveri that consumes a substantial 47% of the  2.41 billion transistor die. Each of those 8 GCN cores has 64 stream processors, for a total of 512. That’s a lot of graphics resources and of course AMD is highlighting their strength over competing Intel INTC +3.94% integrated graphics solutions.  There’s little question AMD’s strength will remain on the graphics side but the company is also introducing their new ‘Steamroller’ CPU architecture with Kaveri, which is expected to offer performance improvements of 10-percent or so, clock-for-clock versus the previous generation Piledriver architecture.



AMD Kaveri Chip Architecture: Steamroller Cores, GCN GPUs and hUMA

In total, AMD is calling Kaveri a 12 “compute core” chip with 4 Steamroller CPU cores and 8 GCN graphics cores connected to a shared, unified memory architecture that AMD calls “hUMA,” which stands for “heterogeneous unified memory access.” Essentially, the new architecture offers a tighter coupling of compute and graphics engines with the chip’s memory DDR3 memory controller interface that now operates up to DDR3-2400 speeds.  The chip allows both CPU and GPU cores to have coherent access to memory with additional system-level atomic operations to synchronize workloads across different core types.  Finally, Kaveri also integrates PCI Express Gen 3 serial links for faster discrete graphics and CrossFire multi-GPU graphics performance.

Kaveri’s total architecture package furthers AMD’s efforts in HSA (Heterogeneous System Architecture), though software developers will have to optimize for such an architecture in order to capitalize on its inherent advantages (lower latencies, more efficient workload distribution etc.). In the meantime, Kaveri will have to rely on its CPU core optimizations and stronger graphics core engine to compete out of the gate.

Today AMD launched three SKUs – the A10-7850K, A10-7700K and A8-7600.  The A10-7850K is the top-end part with a 95 Watt TDP, 4GHz max turbo with a 3.7GHz base clock and a full 8-core GPU (512 stream processors). The 95 Watt A10-7700K offers  a base 3.5GHz clock, top-end 3.8GHz speed and a 6-core GPU (384 stream processor) implementation. And finally, what AMD feels is their performance-per-watt sweet spot, the 65 Watt A8-7600 offers a 3.3GHz base clock, max turbo of 3.8GHz and a 6-core GPU (384 SP) implementation.  The A8-7600 is also configurable in system BIOS for a 45 Watt TDP as well. All of these Kaveri APUs have two Steamroller modules affording 4 processing cores with 4 threads of execution.

In terms of performance, AMD still hasn’t caught up to Intel’s CPU architecture, with Core i3 dual-cores competing favorably still versus the 65 Watt A8 Kaveri quad-core and even the 95 Watt A10 Kaveri chip for CPU-intensive tasks.  However, as expected, AMD’s value proposition in multimedia, gaming and graphics processing is strong. AMD’s GCN architecture offers sizable performance gains over the previous generation architecture and in certain game tests even the lower-end A8-7600 offers almost 2X the performance of a 4th generation Intel Haswell-based Core i5-4670K with integrated HD 4600 graphics.

AMD’s initial go-to-market strategy for the new Kaveri APUs that were launched today is the elegant, low power and quiet computing arena.  Applications like Home Theater PCs, All-In-Ones and other low profile form-factors, that need strong graphics and multimedia performance, make a good use case for these SKUs from AMD. The AMD A8-7600 will be priced at $119 and will be available in Q1. The higher-end A10-7700K and A10-7850K are slated for immediate availability at $152 and $173 price points, respectively.

Kaveri might not be a huge gain for AMD in terms of CPU architecture but it’s a strong advancement in graphics performance and the introduction of a true Heterogeneous System Architecture.  With ISV support for HSA, in addition to AMD’s Mantel API for game development, the incremental hardware advancements of Kaveri could show even stronger in future generation products, as AMD drives the Kaveri architecture down through their product stack in to mobile.

Article by Dave Altavilla

AMD says its next PC chip trumps Intel with 12 'compute cores' and smoother gaming

A decade ago, AMD brought us the first dual-core x86 processor. Then, starting in 2008, the company came out with tri-core and quad-core designs in quick succession, leading up to octa-core chips in 2011's FX range as well as in the latest AMD-powered game consoles. Today, we're looking at a fresh leap forward, albeit one that will take a bit of explaining: a desktop and laptop chip called Kaveri, which brings together up to four CPU cores and eight GPU cores and gives them unheard-of levels of computing independence, such that AMD feels justified in describing them collectively as a dozen "compute cores."

AMD is at least being transparent in its thinking, and besides, there's some genuine technology underpinning the idea of GPU cores being used for more than just 3D rendering. Nevertheless, even if you don't go for the whole 12-core thing, AMD still makes some down-to-earth promises about Kaveri's price and performance -- for example, that it matches up to Intel chips that cost a lot more (the top Kaveri desktop variant costs just $173, compared to $242 for a Haswell Core i5), and that it can play the latest games at 30fps without the need for a discrete graphics card. These are claims that can -- and will -- be put to the test.



Let's start with the theoretical stuff, even though it's largely academic until more software comes along that can make use of it. The reason AMD calls the GPU cores inside Kaveri "compute cores" is that they're said to be fundamentally different to the GPU cores in other PC processors. This difference lies in the fact that they're able to function as equal citizens: Instead of relying on the CPU to orchestrate their workload, they can access system memory directly and take on tasks independently -- almost like a CPU core does. The only difference is that they can't take on the same types of tasks as a CPU, as they're better suited to simple parallel chores rather than complicated serial processing.

As things stand, software developers are already able to exploit the GPU for general computing using tools like OpenCL, which can be used to accelerate anything from Photoshop to big spreadsheets. But OpenCL requires reams of code and a lot of inefficient to-ing and fro-ing between the GPU and CPU -- all of which, AMD says, will be drastically reduced if developers latch onto HSA. That's a big "if," of course, but now that AMD has recruited a bunch of partners into its HSA Foundation, and now that it has managed push its silicon into millions of households via next-gen games consoles, developer interest looks more likely, and Kaveri's compute cores at least bring it some future-proofing as a result.

GAMING

Bearing in mind that we're mostly reliant on AMD's in-house test results for now, until independent reviewers put their graphs online, let's look at that basic claim about Kaveri undercutting Intel as a gaming processor. The chart above shows a top-end Kaveri A10-7850K pitted against Intel's Core i5-4670K for games being played at 1080p with max settings (or at least close to max settings -- there's a bit of ambiguity there, but it doesn't affect the comparison). In each case, the processor is paired with a discrete graphics card, AMD's mid-range Radeon R9 270X, presumably because most enthusiasts would still avoid relying solely on integrated graphics. As you can see, Intel is slightly ahead in a number of games, but never by a significant margin, suggesting that spending $70 more on Intel's chip doesn't add much to the experience.

POWER EFFICIENCY AND ONBOARD GRAPHICS

In addition to Kaveri's suitability for gaming when paired with a separate graphics card, the slide above suggests the chip also has an advantage over a Haswell Core i5 on certain synthetic benchmarks, likely due the fact that it has a bigger GPU than you'd find on an Intel processor. Kaveri's built-in GPU accounts for 47 percent of all transistors in the chip (more than a billion in total), and is potentially meaty enough for it to run games without the need for a discrete graphics card, thereby saving energy and money while also allowing for much smaller PCs. In practice, we played through a level of BioShock Infinite at 1080p with low settings, with Kaveri running beneath a little third-party cooler, and we experienced a steady frame rate of 30fps. This is something AMD claims is also possible in other big titles like Battlefield 4, which it's bundling free with high-end boxed Kaveri chips, but again, you have to be prepared to accept low detail settings.

For the sake of balance, it's important to point out that an Intel's chip is likely to be more power-efficient in its own right. Haswell has fewer transistors (1.4 billion instead of Kaveri's 2.3 billion) and its transistors are also significantly smaller (22nm instead of 28nm), which should equate to reduced power draw -- something that's especially significant when you think about notebook or hybrid/tablet versions of these chips, particularly ones that don't need to focus on 3D graphics (or, equally, which delegate all such tasks to a separate GPU).

MANTLE AND TRUEAUDIO

Speaking of Battlefield 4, we arrive neatly at Kaveri's other big claim to fame -- and it's a claim that requires a much smaller leap of faith than HSA does. You see,Battlefield 4 is one of a growing number of games that will take advantage of an AMD-tailored programming tool called Mantle, which promises big boosts in performance even on lower-power (e.g., HTPC and laptop) versions of the chip. Mantle runs on any AMD graphics card that contains the newer Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, and since Kaveri's graphics processor is based on GCN, it can run Mantle-optimized games and applications too, resulting in claimed performance increases of up to 45 percent in BF4 (once it gets its Mantle update later this month) and as much as 300 percent in real-time strategy games running on the new Star Swarm game engine. (For more on Mantle, read this.)

Finally, in addition to Mantle, Kaveri also brings another feature across from AMD's latest graphics cards: TrueAudio. This is a dedicated, programmable audio processor that sits on the chip and helps to improve the audio in games by decoding data about location (giving sounds a feeling of directionality and distance) and also increasing the total number of voices and effects that can be heard at one time.

WRAP-UP

Kaveri apparently took four years to develop, due to all the extra gubbins AMD has squeezed onto it, including HSA, Mantle and TrueAudio. This also explains why Kaveri chips are priced significantly higher than their predecessor, Richland: The lower-specced A8-7600 will start at $119, rising to $152 for the A10-7700K and, as we've mentioned, $173 for the flagship A10. Will they be worth the money? We'll wait to round-up independent reviews from specialist sites before we make any final judgment, but it certainly looks like AMD has brought some clever additions to this generation that could boost its value. It looks good as a traditional gaming processor right now, especially if you intend to pair it with a Radeon graphics card in order to enable Dual Graphics (with the GCN cores in Kaveri's GPU and in the discrete GPU effectively being added together), but we'll need to see more Mantle- and HSA-enabled software before we're ready to believe it can tackle Intel on general computing.

Article by Sharif Sakr

Gaming finally has its day at CES 2014

After years of taking a back seat at the world's largest consumer electronics show, gaming finally rises to the occasion.

LAS VEGAS -- CES 2014 will go down as a landmark show for gaming. Normally a stage reserved for the newest TVs, laptops, phones and other tech, CES had plenty up its sleeve for button mashers this year.

Things got going quick, when at the company's press conference, Sony spent a significant amount of time introducing PlayStation Now, a cross-platform video game streaming service that will open up a selection of the PlayStation legacy of software to a multitude of platforms, not just the PlayStation 4.

Oculus VR upped its Rift game this year, introducing a special prototype code-named Crystal Cove that impressed CNET editor Scott Stein. It seems the campaign to get a retail device out the door is coming to a head as the company continues to refine its innovative product.

But perhaps the most consistent underlying theme of CES 2014 was the explosion of Steam Machines coming from more than a dozen PC manufacturers. Valve, the company behind the Steam platform, was on hand to show off 13 PC makers' contributions to the emerging category. It's still early, but these devices are ready to compete for your living room, even if they may not have the full Windows Steam experience out of the gate.

Finally, there was Razer's Project Christine, arguably the show's most surprising gaming concoction. Its modular plug-and-play, configure-your-own design won us over, even if it's not ready for public consumption. It'll no doubt be expensive when and if it does ever make it to retail, but it's an engineering marvel that had us drooling.

So that'll just about wrap it up for the gaming category here at CES 2014. For our full coverage, make sure you hit up CNET's CES gaming section.

Article by Jeff Bakalar

 

 

Mercedes-Benz designs concept car just for Gran Turismo 6

Mercedes-Benz's latest concept car is an absolute stunner -- but you won't get to drive it on a real-life road.

(Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Meet the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo -- a car that's unlikely to ever feel the road beneath its rubber. Like the name suggests, the car has been designed for one purpose: appearing in Polyphony Digital's PlayStation 3 exclusive, Gran Turismo 6.

Although the concept car has been created for inclusion in a fictional product, Mercedes-Benz hasn't slouched on the design. Every step of the way, the manufacturer has gone out of its way to build a vehicle that could work in the real world. A 1:1 scale model of the car has even been built, debuting at the opening of the new Mercedes-Benz research and development center in California.

 

(Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Once you get inside the car (in the game, of course), you'll see a central display floating above the steering wheel right in the driver's field of vision, displaying road speed, engine speed, and operating temperature. The car is operated by rocker switches in the center of the dash and in an overhead console, similar to a jet's cockpit.

The radiator grille on the front is designed to catch the eye, studded with LEDs that flash a variable pattern with the Mercedes-Benz star in the center. But it's not all about how pretty the car looks. Under the hood is a 430-kilowatt (585 horsepower) V8 engine with a maximum torque of 800 Newton meters, and its body is constructed of aluminum space frame with carbon fiber components, weighing the car in at 3,053 pounds -- around 5.3 pounds per hp. The high-composite braking system is constructed of ceramic, and the exhaust system incorporates eight tailpipes.

This feeds into the final detail that makes the car seem spectacular: the sound. Mercedes-Benz's sound specialists have created a powerful exhaust note that's designed to pay tribute to the V8.

Gran Turismo 6 will see a worldwide release on December 6.

Call of Duty: Ghosts News, rumours, release

Call of Duty: Ghosts News Activision has officially confirmed that its next COD installment will take the form of Call of Duty: Ghosts. the focus of intense speculation for the past couple of weeks, Activision unveiled Call of Duty: Ghosts with a new teaser trailer and dedicated website last week on May 1.

Originally thought to be called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts is said to be the COD game for "the next generation."

Call of Duty: Ghosts pre-orders lower than expected, Xbox One and PS4 blamed

Activision has said it is experiencing lower than expected pre-order figures for Call of Duty: Ghosts. The developer is blaming gamers' uncertainty of the console they will want to play the game on.

Seeing as the next COD will be released on current platforms and the Xbox One and PS4, Activision believes this is adversely affecting pre-order figures.

Call of Duty: Ghosts Free Fall multiplayer pack confirmed as pre-order bonus

Set in a collapsing sky scraper, the Free Fall multiplayer map will be the pre-order bonus for Call of Duty: Ghosts.



Free to download for anyone hitting that pre-order button for the eagerly awaited COD franchise addition, the Free Fall map features dynamic and ever changing environmental elements as the partly demolished sky scraper collapses.

Air strikes will keep coming as you play making the map contort and forcing you to find new vantage points and siege opportunities.



Call of Duty: Ghosts AI development stalled by hardware delays

According to Activision, development of what it is calling situation AI has hit delays as teh developer is yet to receive any final hardware samples from Sony or Microsoft for the Xbox One or PS4.



In Call of Duty: Ghosts team members and opponents will react to what is going on around them, and to the squad's newest member, Riley the dog.

However, all the new AI improvements have been held up by a lack of final PS4 and Xbox One hardware.



Call of Duty: Ghosts Features

Call of Duty: Ghosts features showcased during Xbox One reveal

Call of Duty: Ghosts was given its world première during the Xbox One reveal on May 21, revealing more of the game's features. Speaking directly to the Activision developers, Microsoft provided fans of the series with more details on the game.

Featuring “a whole new story with brand new characters in a whole new world”, Activision said it aims to produce a cast of characters that the player can feel more connected to. For this, the developer has brought in the writer of Syriana and Traffic, Stephen Gaghan.

Set ten years after a "massive attack" on the US, you play as a group of special forces soldiers known as The Ghosts. "You are the underdog fighting back against a superior force."

What's a huge new addition to the Call of Duty: Ghosts squad is their new canine companion. The first COD game to feature a dog, the mutt will aid the team by sniffing out explosives and protecting the soldiers in other, as yet undisclosed, ways.



Said to be a key aspect as to how players strategise throughout the game, we can see many a level where the squad will have to protect their new canine buddy.

The new gaming engine used by Call of Duty: Ghosts utilises Pixar's SubD technology to improve the smoothness of graphics, especially noticeable on the weapons at close range notes Activision developers.

Stating that the key word for the new graphics engine is "immersion", the Call of Duty: Ghosts developers say this game will have the best graphical fidelity of any in the series. Characters now automatically leap over any low cover in their way and can intelligently lean in and out of cover. New AI technology also allows for a more responsive environment, including fish that will intuitively move out of your way as you near them.

Also revealing "just two of the new features coming to the next-generation of Call of Duty multiplayer", Activision explains the new dynamic experience and character customisation.

Similar to Battefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer will introduce a new dynamic experience driven by large scale events like floods and earthquakes, but also by smaller player-driven incidents like buildings collapsing from explosions.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will introduce voice commands via Xbox One Kinect

CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, has also confirmed in a separate interview that anyone playing the game on the Xbox One will be able to use voice commands to direct their squad.

Call of Duty: Ghost Release Date

Activision has confirmed that a Call of Duty: Ghosts release date is scheduled for November 5, shipping on current generation Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles as well as PS4 and Xbox One.

Fans are so eager to get their hands on the game that just 24 hours after Activision officially unveiled Call of Duty: Ghosts, the game soared straight to the top of the charts for Amazon pre-orders. Six months before the game will ship to consumers, the game is currently occupying the number one and number two spots in the gaming chart for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions respectively on Amazon UK.

Call of Duty: Ghosts Trailer

Sony confirms PS4 gesture and voice control, HDMI capture for games

Looking for more PlayStation 4 news? Here's a bit now that Sony's Tokyo Game Show keynote address is over. A couple of features we'd hoped to hear more about have been confirmed, and the first is that the PS4 camera will support both voice and gesture control. It's no surprise that the system will take full advantage of the add-on's dual cameras and four mics for people who want to wave at their TVs, but it's nice to have that confirmed. Second, in a move that will mostly benefit game reviewers and YouTube video walkthrough experts, the PlayStation 4 will allow unencrypted HDMI output for games. On the PS3 it didn't, treating games the same as Blu-ray movies, so anyone capturing video in HD needed to use component cables. That's on top of the console's "Share" button that sends clips of gameplay straight to Ustream, Facebook or PSN.

Steam to introduce lending with Family Sharing

Steam users will soon be able to share their game libraries with close friends and family through Valve's new Steam Family Sharing feature, soon to enter closed beta.



(Credit: Valve)

"Our customers have expressed a desire to share their digital games among friends and family members, just as current retail games, books, DVDs and other physical media can be shared," said Valve business development manager Anna Sweet. "Family Sharing was created in direct response to these user requests."

Accessing a friend's library will allow you to play all of their games, with their achievements and save data available on your own profile via the Steam cloud — essentially letting you try any game a friend is playing for free. And if you see a game on your friend's account that you want to play, you can send a request to be authorised for sharing.

(Credit: Valve)

Users can authorise lending on up to 10 devices in total at any given time. However, there is a catch: only one user can access the library at any given time; and, of course, the owner's account has priority. So if you're playing a game from a friend's library and they log in on a different computer to start playing, you'll have a few minutes to make a decision: either buy the game for yourself, or save and quit.

DLC can also be borrowed, so if you have a game and your friend has, say, map expansions you want to try, you can jump into your friend's game to test them out, but all DLC remains the property of the original purchaser.

It's also important to note for Australian users that regional restrictions will apply when borrowing or lending content.

Finally, Valve cautions that you don't just lend your library out willy-nilly to anyone who asks. "Your Family Sharing privileges may be revoked if your library is used by borrowers to conduct cheating or fraud," it said in the FAQ. "We recommend you only authorise familiar computers you know to be secure."

You can sign up for the Steam Family Sharing beta here.