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Written by Jon Sutton on 09 February 2014 at 13:00
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It sounds like the stuff of absolute nightmares. Just when you thought your computer was safe, along come graphics cards viruses to lay waste to your precious silicon.
Okay, I might be going slightly overboard here but upon encountering that these strange beasts it of course set me off like a hardware hypochondriac. As far as I was aware both GPUs and RAM were pretty much untouchable by viruses, thanks to the use of volatile memory that flushes any information out. Well. Think again…
Don't Worry, Your GPU Won't Be Ending Up In A Fiery Grave
This dangerous new type of computer virus is capable of lurking on graphics and network cards and is totally immune to any current antivirus software’s detection techniques. Known as the DAGGER virus, it is capable of directly accessing a computer’s memory independently of the CPU, regardless of permissions.
The DAGGER graphics card virus is undoubtedly a complex beast. Rather than directly infecting a GPU it uses the graphics card as a base of operations from which to infect the rest of a PC. As we know, graphics cards have both local RAM and a processor capable of running executable code. The RAM is able to communicate directly with a PC’s memory using Direct Memory Access (DMA). This allows processes to be written to the system RAM without the processor ever knowing it’s occurring. This overcomes CPU permissions and gives the graphics card RAM free reign to communicate with the system RAM.
So far the DAGGER virus is known to have been used on both Linux and Windows systems, with Apple Macs also vulnerable to the attacks. These DMA-based attacks are capable of compromising a host PC without having to exploit and vulnerabilities or weak points of an OS. They are a highly dangerous threat to system security as they are almost totally undetectable; to date no OS has any security mechanics in place to prevent such an attack and antivirus software isn’t capable of scanning the memory on a GPU.
The DAGGER virus was created by researchers and is the only known virus of its type. Once the exploit has found the Windows or Linux lookup tables it is capable of booting up every time your PC starts. Once running, it is theoretically capable of doing whatever it wants.
For now this danger is purely theoretical, with the DAGGER virus the only known one of its type in existence. Still, it’s just enough instil a tingling sense of doubt isn’t it?
Okay, I might be going slightly overboard here but upon encountering that these strange beasts it of course set me off like a hardware hypochondriac. As far as I was aware both GPUs and RAM were pretty much untouchable by viruses, thanks to the use of volatile memory that flushes any information out. Well. Think again…
Don't Worry, Your GPU Won't Be Ending Up In A Fiery GraveThe DAGGER graphics card virus is undoubtedly a complex beast. Rather than directly infecting a GPU it uses the graphics card as a base of operations from which to infect the rest of a PC. As we know, graphics cards have both local RAM and a processor capable of running executable code. The RAM is able to communicate directly with a PC’s memory using Direct Memory Access (DMA). This allows processes to be written to the system RAM without the processor ever knowing it’s occurring. This overcomes CPU permissions and gives the graphics card RAM free reign to communicate with the system RAM.
So far the DAGGER virus is known to have been used on both Linux and Windows systems, with Apple Macs also vulnerable to the attacks. These DMA-based attacks are capable of compromising a host PC without having to exploit and vulnerabilities or weak points of an OS. They are a highly dangerous threat to system security as they are almost totally undetectable; to date no OS has any security mechanics in place to prevent such an attack and antivirus software isn’t capable of scanning the memory on a GPU.
The DAGGER virus was created by researchers and is the only known virus of its type. Once the exploit has found the Windows or Linux lookup tables it is capable of booting up every time your PC starts. Once running, it is theoretically capable of doing whatever it wants.
For now this danger is purely theoretical, with the DAGGER virus the only known one of its type in existence. Still, it’s just enough instil a tingling sense of doubt isn’t it?
Written by Stuart Thomas on 10 February 2014 at 16:00
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AMD’s R-series branding for Radeon Graphics card received another addition to its line up over the weekend as AMD announced its Radeon R7 250X card.
The card is designed to fill a gap in both price and performance between the Oland-based R7 250 and the more expensive, powerful R7 260.
The Radeon R7 250X Specifications
It’s not exactly revolutionary in design; the card is a Cape Verde GPU used in the 7700 series, and in fact is pretty much a direct reskin of the Radeon HD 7770, which held the $99 spot in the AMD line up previously. The specifications are, as far as we can tell, identical.
In spite of the R7 250X inducing a little deja vu, AMD is no doubt hoping it will boost the lower end of its market after it saw little uptake for the R7 260. The R7 250X is a significant step up performance-wise from the R7 250 at just $10 more expensive. It’s a little more power-hungry than the 250; requiring 95W and an external PCie connector whilst the 250 is a sub-75W card, but since the performance increase is likely to be around 30% for the 250X, this power difference will not matter to many looking to buy a new card for under $100.
As Cape Verde is a GCN 1.0 GPU, it is fairly up to date, with support for DirectX 11.1 and AMD's own Mantle API. However, in terms of features the 250X will show a slight disadvantage when pitched against the GCN 1.1 based 260 series. Cape Verde lacks TrueAudio support among other things, which may give people a reason to pay a little more for the Bonaire 260 series.
What do you think of the Radeon R7 250X filling the $99 AMD spot? How do you feel about AMD's practise of rebranding older cards?
The card is designed to fill a gap in both price and performance between the Oland-based R7 250 and the more expensive, powerful R7 260.
The Radeon R7 250X SpecificationsIn spite of the R7 250X inducing a little deja vu, AMD is no doubt hoping it will boost the lower end of its market after it saw little uptake for the R7 260. The R7 250X is a significant step up performance-wise from the R7 250 at just $10 more expensive. It’s a little more power-hungry than the 250; requiring 95W and an external PCie connector whilst the 250 is a sub-75W card, but since the performance increase is likely to be around 30% for the 250X, this power difference will not matter to many looking to buy a new card for under $100.
As Cape Verde is a GCN 1.0 GPU, it is fairly up to date, with support for DirectX 11.1 and AMD's own Mantle API. However, in terms of features the 250X will show a slight disadvantage when pitched against the GCN 1.1 based 260 series. Cape Verde lacks TrueAudio support among other things, which may give people a reason to pay a little more for the Bonaire 260 series.
What do you think of the Radeon R7 250X filling the $99 AMD spot? How do you feel about AMD's practise of rebranding older cards?
Written by Stuart Thomas on 13 February 2014 at 12:30
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Nvidia’s GeForce GTX Titan Black is nearly here, and with first images leaked online the big surprise in the mix is that … it’s not actually black. It looks exactly the same as the regular Titan card, only the logo has been changed to black.
It’s a styling that brings the new card in line with the 780 Ti card…
The Titan Black Logo Is Similar To The GTX 780 Ti
Details of the card are not yet confirmed, but it will be powered by the 28nm Gk110 GPU, with 2880 CUDA cores and 6GB of Video RAM. In terms of pricing, it’s likely the card will take the $1000 spot held by the original Titan. This means that, although the card is designed to overtake the GTX 780 Ti, it will be an eyewatering $300 more expensive than that card.
Check out the advert below, alongside a picture of the GTX 780 Ti for comparison. It’s a break from previously rumoured designs for Nvidia’s high-end board; older renders showed an black and green design that was a more obvious reference to Nvidia’s own colour scheme.
What do you think of the Titan Black's design?
It’s a styling that brings the new card in line with the 780 Ti card…
The Titan Black Logo Is Similar To The GTX 780 TiCheck out the advert below, alongside a picture of the GTX 780 Ti for comparison. It’s a break from previously rumoured designs for Nvidia’s high-end board; older renders showed an black and green design that was a more obvious reference to Nvidia’s own colour scheme.
What do you think of the Titan Black's design?
Written by Jon Sutton on 12 February 2014 at 17:00
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AMD is apparently in the process of creating a pair of new graphics cards for release imminently; the AMD Radeon R9 280 and the AMD Radeon R9 265, with release dates rumoured to be as soon as tomorrow for the R7 265 to arrive.
First up is the Radeon R9 280. Originally expected to launch alongside the R9 280X, the card was reportedly delayed after the demand from Bitcoin miners saw AMD GPUs in extremely short supply...
The AMD R7 265
The R9 280 is essentially going to be a rebranded Radeon HD 7950, in comparison to the R9 280X’s Radeon HD 7970 equivalent. It is set to feature a Tahiti Pro GPU with 1792 Stream Cores and packing 3GB of onboard GDDR5 memory. In line with the HD 7950 it’s expected to be clocked at 850MHz with a boost speed of 925MHz and a 384-bit interface. The expected price point is reportedly going to be around $250.
Next up is the new mid-range Radeon R9 265, a new Pitcairn-based card that is a rebranding of AMD’s Radeon HD 7850. It’ll have 1024 shader processing units, the same 2GB of GDDR5 memory and a 256-bit interface with a core speed of 860MHz. The expected price point for this card is around the $150 range, with it reportedly arriving in stores as soon as tomorrow.
Finally, for GPU enthusiasts, a dual Hawaii graphics card is also expected in June of this year, sporting a Radeon R9 290X2. This will be AMD’s first dual-GPU card in the R200 series and we would expect this little puppy to truly break the bank when it arrives.
Thinking about picking either of these cards up?
Could the R9 265 become the mid-range card of choice?
Let us know below!
First up is the Radeon R9 280. Originally expected to launch alongside the R9 280X, the card was reportedly delayed after the demand from Bitcoin miners saw AMD GPUs in extremely short supply...
The AMD R7 265Next up is the new mid-range Radeon R9 265, a new Pitcairn-based card that is a rebranding of AMD’s Radeon HD 7850. It’ll have 1024 shader processing units, the same 2GB of GDDR5 memory and a 256-bit interface with a core speed of 860MHz. The expected price point for this card is around the $150 range, with it reportedly arriving in stores as soon as tomorrow.
Finally, for GPU enthusiasts, a dual Hawaii graphics card is also expected in June of this year, sporting a Radeon R9 290X2. This will be AMD’s first dual-GPU card in the R200 series and we would expect this little puppy to truly break the bank when it arrives.
Thinking about picking either of these cards up?
Could the R9 265 become the mid-range card of choice?
Let us know below!
Written by Jon Sutton on 19 February 2014 at 17:36
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As we reported yesterday, Nvidia has recently released its brand new pair of mid-range cards, the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and the GeForce GTX 750, with some surprising results.
Reports and benchmarks coming out from those who’ve managed to grab hold of one early revealed the $149 Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti is capable of outperforming the $500 Xbox One when playing Titanfall, running Respawn’s shooter at close to sixty frames per second on 1920x1080 resolution…
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti Up Close And Personal
Nvidia’s budget priced cards are the first to run on their new Maxwell architecture, which theoretically allows for double the performance of the old Kepler GPUs. Benchmarks of Titanfall demonstrate that the slightly more powerful GeForce GTX 750 Ti model is capable of hitting average frame rates of 58 fps at 1080p, a huge leap up from Microsoft’s next-gen console that has to make do with a mere 720p resolution.
The GeForce GTX 750 Ti comes packing 2GB of GDDR5 memory in comparison to the GTX 750’s 1GB. This appears to give it enough power to easily stack up with the Xbox One, just months after its release. On top of this neither card requires a power connector whatsoever, running totally off of the power from PCI express port. Other tests also revealed that the cut-price wonders were capable of playing the likes of Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider at over 60fps on high settings, ensuring that these cards look like they might be some serious bang for your buck.
For more detailed information on these cards be sure to check out our extensive preview from Pip, as well as benchmarking results from Battlefield 4 and Bioshock Infinite.
Do you think the GeForce 750 Ti is a better buy than the Xbox One?
Where does this leave Microsoft's console two or three years down the line?
Let us know your thoughts!
Reports and benchmarks coming out from those who’ve managed to grab hold of one early revealed the $149 Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti is capable of outperforming the $500 Xbox One when playing Titanfall, running Respawn’s shooter at close to sixty frames per second on 1920x1080 resolution…
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti Up Close And PersonalThe GeForce GTX 750 Ti comes packing 2GB of GDDR5 memory in comparison to the GTX 750’s 1GB. This appears to give it enough power to easily stack up with the Xbox One, just months after its release. On top of this neither card requires a power connector whatsoever, running totally off of the power from PCI express port. Other tests also revealed that the cut-price wonders were capable of playing the likes of Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider at over 60fps on high settings, ensuring that these cards look like they might be some serious bang for your buck.
For more detailed information on these cards be sure to check out our extensive preview from Pip, as well as benchmarking results from Battlefield 4 and Bioshock Infinite.
Do you think the GeForce 750 Ti is a better buy than the Xbox One?
Where does this leave Microsoft's console two or three years down the line?
Let us know your thoughts!
Written by Stuart Thomas on 19 February 2014 at 16:30
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With a trio of new graphics card entering the market that can only mean one thing for us PC gamers, and that’s new drivers.
The Nvidia GeForce 334.89 WHQL come locked and loaded with supporting for the new mid-range GeForce GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti cards, as well as the monstrously powerful looking GeForce GTX Titan Black Edition. Existing Nvidia card owners will also want to get involved, as this driver update brings with it performance improvements of up to 19% in some of the hottest games in recent years…
These latest Microsoft-certified WHQL drivers offer a significant step up in performance on over half a dozen games, including;
• Up to 19% in F1 2013
• Up to 18% in Sleeping Dogs
• Up to 16% in Hitman Absolution
• Up to 15% in Company of Heroes 2
• Up to 10% in Assassin’s Creed 3
• Up to 7% in BioShock Infinite
• Up to 6% in Sniper Elite V2
• Up to 5% in Total War: Rome 2
There’s also some additional SLI improvements and profiles for those of you lucky enough to be combining multiple GeForce GTX GPUs. These include Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut, Gas Guzzlers, Hearthstone, and last but not least, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world racer The Crew.
3D goggle wearers will be delighted as well, as a rather large list of titles have had support added for those rarest of gamers trapped in a timewarp of December 2009. Everyone loves a good list, so here they are 3D lovers...
• Assassin’s Creed III – Rating now “Excellent”
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Rating now “Excellent”
• Battlefield 4 – Rating now “Good”
• BioShock Infinite – Rating now “Excellent”
• Far Cry 3 – Rating now “Good”
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - Rated "Fair"
• Hitman: Absolution – Rating now “Excellent”
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes - Rated "Good"
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted – Rating now “Good”
• Saints Row IV – Rating now “Good”
• Shadow Warrior - Rating now "Excellent"
• Sniper Elite V2 – Rating now “Excellent”
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist – Rating now “Good”
• The Stanley Parable - Rated "Excellent"
• The Walking Dead: Season Two - Rated "Good"
• Total War: Shogun 2 – Rating now “Good”
• Warframe – Laser sight and shadows fixed
• World Rally Championship 4 - Rated "Good"
The GeForce 334.89 WHQL drivers are available to download right now from here, so grab them and be sure to let us know if you notice any improvements!
The Nvidia GeForce 334.89 WHQL come locked and loaded with supporting for the new mid-range GeForce GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti cards, as well as the monstrously powerful looking GeForce GTX Titan Black Edition. Existing Nvidia card owners will also want to get involved, as this driver update brings with it performance improvements of up to 19% in some of the hottest games in recent years…
These latest Microsoft-certified WHQL drivers offer a significant step up in performance on over half a dozen games, including;
• Up to 19% in F1 2013
• Up to 18% in Sleeping Dogs
• Up to 16% in Hitman Absolution
• Up to 15% in Company of Heroes 2
• Up to 10% in Assassin’s Creed 3
• Up to 7% in BioShock Infinite
• Up to 6% in Sniper Elite V2
• Up to 5% in Total War: Rome 2
There’s also some additional SLI improvements and profiles for those of you lucky enough to be combining multiple GeForce GTX GPUs. These include Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut, Gas Guzzlers, Hearthstone, and last but not least, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world racer The Crew.
3D goggle wearers will be delighted as well, as a rather large list of titles have had support added for those rarest of gamers trapped in a timewarp of December 2009. Everyone loves a good list, so here they are 3D lovers...
• Assassin’s Creed III – Rating now “Excellent”
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Rating now “Excellent”
• Battlefield 4 – Rating now “Good”
• BioShock Infinite – Rating now “Excellent”
• Far Cry 3 – Rating now “Good”
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - Rated "Fair"
• Hitman: Absolution – Rating now “Excellent”
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes - Rated "Good"
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted – Rating now “Good”
• Saints Row IV – Rating now “Good”
• Shadow Warrior - Rating now "Excellent"
• Sniper Elite V2 – Rating now “Excellent”
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist – Rating now “Good”
• The Stanley Parable - Rated "Excellent"
• The Walking Dead: Season Two - Rated "Good"
• Total War: Shogun 2 – Rating now “Good”
• Warframe – Laser sight and shadows fixed
• World Rally Championship 4 - Rated "Good"
The GeForce 334.89 WHQL drivers are available to download right now from here, so grab them and be sure to let us know if you notice any improvements!
Written by Andrew Moynihan on 19 February 2014 at 15:15
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Bioshock developer Irrational Games is being buried at sea, after it was revealed in a letter from president Ken Levine that the hugely successful studio will be closing its doors for good once the final piece of Bioshock Infinite DLC is released.
This well may well spell the end of the Bioshock franchise as we know it, as the SWAT 4and System Shock 2 developer looks to wind down and lay-off all but fifteen of the studio’s members in the immediate future..
Irrational Games' President Ken LevineHe continued; "Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience."
Levine co-founded Irrational Games way back in 1997 along with Jon Chey and Rob Fermier, immediately producing the rapturously received System Shock 2, the precursor to Bioshock as we know it. From there on the team continued with moderate success thanks to games such as Freedom Force, Tribes: Vengeance and SWAT 4, before striking gold with Bioshock.
Levine is now keen to make inroads into the digital market, focusing on highly-replayable narrative driven games. He’ll still be working under the umbrella of Take Two but with a vastly smaller development team making games for the core audience.
It’s not all doom and gloom for Bioshock fans though, as Take-Two may well continue the series using another developer, with the franchise now in 2K’s hands. For now, the final project for the Irrational dev team is the Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Episode 2 DLC, which is scheduled for release on March 25.
Do you think this is the end of Bioshock as we know it?
What sort of games do you hope Levine and his team will work on next?
Post your commiserations below...
Written by Jon Sutton on 19 February 2014 at 11:24
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Those potty-mouthed kids from South Park are set to make their RPG debut next month, dabbling in arcane wizardry and having extensive discourses with conversational turds.
South Park: The Stick of Truth follows the emergence of a new savour from the perilous battlegrounds of a fourth-grade playground, waging a part in the neverending war over The Stick of Truth. Graphically, it's looking to stick identically to its television counterpart. The Stick of Truth promises f-bombs, gratuitous farting and close-to-the-bone stereotyping aplenty. So, let's see what rig you're going to need to match the South Park: Stick of Truth recommended requirements...
South Park: The Stick Of Truth Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP 32-bit, with Service Pack 3
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz or Athlon X2 Dual Core 5600+
RAM: 1.5 GB System Memory
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT or AMD Radeon HD 3870
DX: DirectX 9.0c
HDD: 6GB available hard drive space
South Park: The Stick Of Truth Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 32-bit Edition and upwards
CPU: 2.67 GHz Core i5 750 or 2.6GHz AMD Athlon II X4 645
RAM: 2 GB System Memory
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 1GB or AMD Radeon HD 4870
HD: 6GB hard drive space
As expected, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fairly undemanding game. The 2D graphics mean that this is one game that shouldn't be particularly taxing on any gaming PC bought during the last five years or so. The memory demands in particular aren't very demanding at all, requiring just 1.5GB of RAM to get it running at minimum requirements and only 2GB to hit the recommended.
The South Park: The Stick of Truth processor requirement is also pretty low, needing just a dual-core processor clocked at 2.5 GHz, which should be fairly commonplace by now. By that token the GPU requirements are also fairly minimal. Unfortunately the trusty GeForce 8800GT won't quite cut it here, meaning you're going to need the next generation 9800 GT at a minimum to get it running. For those wanting to run South Park: The Stick of Truth on recommended system settings then you're going to the GTX 260 or its AMD equivalent the Radeon HD 4870.
South Park: The Stick of Truth will be a turn-based RPG based on an extremely basic-looking TV show, so when it comes to the requirements we'd expect gaming rigs at the lower end of the South Park system requirements to be more than capable of playing the game. Players won't be required to make rapid inputs or choices so a smooth frame rate in The Stick of Truth most likely won't be necessary to enjoy it to its full potential. Provided you've got a decent enough video card to get the no doubt endless slew of cutscenes playing, you should be set. So stock up on the cheesy poofs, crank up your copy of Chocolate Salty Balls, and start playing some f**king South Park: The Stick of Truth.
In the meantime be sure to check out our South Park: The Stick of Truth page to see how your rig can run South Park: The Stick of Truth system requirements.
Compare your graphics card to the South Park: The Stick of Truth GPU benchmark chart
What do you make of the South Park: The Stick of Truth requirements?
Which of South Park's hundreds of outrageous characters are you looking forward to beating with The Stick of Truth?
South Park: The Stick of Truth follows the emergence of a new savour from the perilous battlegrounds of a fourth-grade playground, waging a part in the neverending war over The Stick of Truth. Graphically, it's looking to stick identically to its television counterpart. The Stick of Truth promises f-bombs, gratuitous farting and close-to-the-bone stereotyping aplenty. So, let's see what rig you're going to need to match the South Park: Stick of Truth recommended requirements...
South Park: The Stick Of Truth Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP 32-bit, with Service Pack 3
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz or Athlon X2 Dual Core 5600+
RAM: 1.5 GB System Memory
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT or AMD Radeon HD 3870
DX: DirectX 9.0c
HDD: 6GB available hard drive space
South Park: The Stick Of Truth Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 32-bit Edition and upwards
CPU: 2.67 GHz Core i5 750 or 2.6GHz AMD Athlon II X4 645
RAM: 2 GB System Memory
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 1GB or AMD Radeon HD 4870
HD: 6GB hard drive space
As expected, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fairly undemanding game. The 2D graphics mean that this is one game that shouldn't be particularly taxing on any gaming PC bought during the last five years or so. The memory demands in particular aren't very demanding at all, requiring just 1.5GB of RAM to get it running at minimum requirements and only 2GB to hit the recommended.
The South Park: The Stick of Truth processor requirement is also pretty low, needing just a dual-core processor clocked at 2.5 GHz, which should be fairly commonplace by now. By that token the GPU requirements are also fairly minimal. Unfortunately the trusty GeForce 8800GT won't quite cut it here, meaning you're going to need the next generation 9800 GT at a minimum to get it running. For those wanting to run South Park: The Stick of Truth on recommended system settings then you're going to the GTX 260 or its AMD equivalent the Radeon HD 4870.
South Park: The Stick of Truth will be a turn-based RPG based on an extremely basic-looking TV show, so when it comes to the requirements we'd expect gaming rigs at the lower end of the South Park system requirements to be more than capable of playing the game. Players won't be required to make rapid inputs or choices so a smooth frame rate in The Stick of Truth most likely won't be necessary to enjoy it to its full potential. Provided you've got a decent enough video card to get the no doubt endless slew of cutscenes playing, you should be set. So stock up on the cheesy poofs, crank up your copy of Chocolate Salty Balls, and start playing some f**king South Park: The Stick of Truth.
In the meantime be sure to check out our South Park: The Stick of Truth page to see how your rig can run South Park: The Stick of Truth system requirements.
Compare your graphics card to the South Park: The Stick of Truth GPU benchmark chart
What do you make of the South Park: The Stick of Truth requirements?
Which of South Park's hundreds of outrageous characters are you looking forward to beating with The Stick of Truth?
Written by Jon Sutton on 17 February 2014 at 10:25
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There’s a number of big-hitting horror games set to arrive in 2014, including Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within and zombie-parkour-survival ‘sim’ Dying Light. With all the hype for these titles it’s easy to gloss over Zombie Studios’ terrifying looking Daylight, a procedurally generated psychological horror game featuring dolls. Horrible, hideous porcelain dolls.
It’s recently emerged that Daylight will be arriving this very April for PC and Playstation 4. Set in an abandoned sanitorium, this Unreal Engine 4 powered fright-fest looks to take a leaf of the Amnesia and Outlast book of horror; stripping the player of weaponry and plunging them into darkness…
Zombie Studios is the same team responsible for the popular free-to-play FPS Blacklight: Retribution, with their only previous experience in the horror genre coming with the pair of Saw games released for previous generation consoles and PC.
Daylight is scheduled to arrive in April 2014 for PC and Playstation 4.
Do you think the procedurally generated world will add to the scares or make them difficult to create?
Which is your most anticipated horror game of 2014?
Official review by Tero Toivonen on Feb 18, 2014 at 1:15pm
Space, the final frontier, has always intrigued the human mind. Ever since the term 'sci-fi' was first used in the early 1950's, we've seen thousands upon thousands of writers and movie-makers creating their own visions of what outer space looks like.
These days space (and sci-fi in general) is so common in video games that we barely give it another thought. The latest game developer to give us their perception of space is Robot Entertainment with their newest game, Echo Prime. Is the universe really big enough to hold one more sci-fi game?
The story of Echo Prime begins when our hero (known simply as Enforcer) is aboard a freight ship on a routine trip somewhere in our galaxy. Suddenly a wormhole emerges and the Enforcer is sucked into a different part of the Universe. It's quickly revealed to the player that the universe is in trouble; beings called 'Slivers' are persecuting the rest of the populace and the player is the only hope in restoring order to the galaxy. The Enforcer isn't alone, though; as a part of his quest he must find godlike beings known as Echoes who will aid him. With the help of Echoes the player sets out on a galaxy-wide quest to bring peace ... and collect some loot on the way.
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| By The Power Of Grayskull... I Have The Power! |
The gameplay of Echo Prime brings to mind the legendary arcade games of the late 80's and early 90's; the screen scrolls from left to right as you move the Enforcer around and shoot things up. The simple mouse-driven control scheme takes roughly 1.4 seconds to get used to and is familiar to anyone who has ever played games like Diablo or Cannon Fodder; you move your character around by clicking on the ground and when you click on an enemy you shoot at it. You can also 'anchor' the Enforcer in place via the keyboard, which is handy for shooting at enemies who aren't on screen. If an enemy gets too close, your character will automatically attack it with his blade.
The galaxy map is divided into 5 clusters and each cluster has an unlimited amount of missions (talk about infinite replay value, eh?). Your character level determines which clusters are accessible. The story is driven by a few, separately marked missions that open up when you've reached a certain level. However, even though there are different missions types (from killing each enemy on the level to protecting a data console) the lazy level design and the constant reuse of textures unfortunately ensures you feel like you're just replaying the same mission over and over again.
The enemies you'll encounter consist of weird alien creatures and mechanized entities; some use weapons to attack you while others rely on close combat. There are also bigger champion versions of the base enemies that take a lot more beating to go down than their smaller brethren. Occasionally, usually at the end of a campaign, you'll also fight huge bosses that'll easily kill in one swift strike. These bosses require a bit of strategy to beat and are a welcome breeze to the base enemies which unfortunately come in only a couple of different variants. This endless stream of copied enemies adds to the overall feeling of boredom when playing for prolonged periods of time.
As you might have guessed already, the Enforcer is armed with a gun and a blade. These, along with your armor and helmet, can be upgraded between missions by spending your hard-earned credits at the store. Your character also gains experience by completing missions and killing enemies and (as with any other game of this kind) when you get enough experience, your character gains a level. The game is highly tied to your characters level; new levels unlock more gear at the store, more campaigns to play and so on. There's always something to unlock which keeps you playing until the early hours.
Alongside moving and shooting your character can also block by pressing the right mouse button. This is hardly necessary, though, since most projectiles can easily be avoided simply by moving out of the way or by dodging. Dodging is done with either the keyboard or the mouse. Sadly it uses the same button as moving so you're constantly accidentally dodging when you're trying to move or shoot a distant enemy. Very irritating, especially when most of the time your character dodges straight into a hazard on the level.
 |
| Collecting Echoes Is Fun And Rewarding. |
Now for the part that makes Echo Prime what it is; Echoes. As stated before, Echoes are beings of supreme power and your character can 'equip' them to take advantage of their powers. Some Echoes have passive abilities (increased defense for example) while others have active abilities (instant healing etcetera). Equipping the correct Echoes for a certain mission is the key to success and mixing different Echoes is fun and rewarding. There are a total of 68 Echoes to be found, and collecting them is the essence of the game. Equipped Echoes collect special Echo Points and, when they've gathered enough, they become Veterans with increased abilities.
Although the game doesn't have multiplayer (which is a real shame since coop would have fitted the game perfectly), you can borrow your friends' Echoes in missions. This is a great way to level up the least used Echoes your friends have and also great for your own Echoes that don't see much action. And if you don't have any friends (or friends that own the game) you don't have to worry; the game creates false friends whose Echoes you can borrow. pretty clever, since it creates a feeling that you're actually playing as a part of a bigger community.
The sounds of the game are pretty basic and familiar to anyone who has ever played a sci-fi game before; basic laser sounds and thumps. The graphics on the other hand look great the effects especially look excellent. Even though the textures are copied all over the campaigns they still look good even after hours and hours of playing. Technically the game also works great and should be playable with almost any rig imaginable. Echo Prime also supports multiple monitors but after hours of playing the monitors started acting up. Luckily the game looks good even with a single monitor.
Echo Prime is fun to play and extremely addictive; a true sign of a great game. The budget price and hours and hours of playtime are only brought down by repetitive missions and the lack of variety in the content. But all in all Echo Prime is a game which is definitely worth a try; just note that it might consume all the free time you might have. And then some.
Written by Neil Soutter on 18 February 2014 at 11:30
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Unreal Tournament and Gears of War creator Cliff ‘CliffyB’ Bleszinski has vowed to never again make a disc-based game, saying that traditional game reveals and even global gaming event E3 are dead in the water.
Speaking in an interview, CliffyB revealed that he thinks the old gaming market is over and that the PC is where the future of the gaming market is going to end up…
Unreal Tournament - The Arena Shooter Fan's Dream Come True
"The whole 'old guard' where you get a Game Informer cover and an E3 reveal is dead,” said Bleszinski. "I'll never make another disc-based game for the rest of my career and [at E3] they're trying to woo buyers from Target and Walmart?"
"PC is where I'm going to wind up. That's where the community is. The trend will always be the core. If I start a studio, I want a community manager there day one. I want weekly video or podcasts; I want task lists available on the subreddit."
CliffyB left Epic Games after the release of Gears of War 3 in 2012, saying that it was time for a break from making games after ploughing through the trilogy of Gears of War games. Despite the Gears of War franchise going on to huge success and eventually being bought by Microsoft late last month, Bleszinski explained that he wanted to go on to achieve bigger and better things.
"At the end of the day, you're shooting fucking lizard-men in the fucking face with a fucking chainsaw gun," he said. "It didn't wind up what I'd hoped. I'd pitched it as 'Band of Brothers with monsters' – you know Band of Brothers is well-done and emotional, telling the story of the Greatest Generation and what they did in the war.”
Do you think the end of disc-based gaming is here?
Will this mean a change in how and what games are made?
Let us know your thoughts below!
Speaking in an interview, CliffyB revealed that he thinks the old gaming market is over and that the PC is where the future of the gaming market is going to end up…
Unreal Tournament - The Arena Shooter Fan's Dream Come True"PC is where I'm going to wind up. That's where the community is. The trend will always be the core. If I start a studio, I want a community manager there day one. I want weekly video or podcasts; I want task lists available on the subreddit."
CliffyB left Epic Games after the release of Gears of War 3 in 2012, saying that it was time for a break from making games after ploughing through the trilogy of Gears of War games. Despite the Gears of War franchise going on to huge success and eventually being bought by Microsoft late last month, Bleszinski explained that he wanted to go on to achieve bigger and better things.
"At the end of the day, you're shooting fucking lizard-men in the fucking face with a fucking chainsaw gun," he said. "It didn't wind up what I'd hoped. I'd pitched it as 'Band of Brothers with monsters' – you know Band of Brothers is well-done and emotional, telling the story of the Greatest Generation and what they did in the war.”
Do you think the end of disc-based gaming is here?
Will this mean a change in how and what games are made?
Let us know your thoughts below!
Written by Andrew Moynihan on 18 February 2014 at 15:30
2
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With The Elder Scrolls Online embargo lifted and the beta in full swing now, we’ve been hearing more and more reports from beta testers about their experiences with progression and levelling up.
The upcoming MMORPG currently has a level cap of 50, with playtesters indicating that reaching that mark will take anywhere between 50 and 150 hours of time investment...
The Elder Scrolls Online Beta Screenshot
A Tamriel Founder writer and Reddit user who described his play-style as “casual but heavy-use” claimed the big 5-0 had taken him 144 hours over 4 weeks, but also suggested that those more committed to levelling might achieve that goal in significantly less time. This was backed up by reports from some that they had reached the goal in 70-80 hours by skipping dialogue with NPCs and avoiding being completionist.
There is also some indication that - as in World Of Warcraft - character choice might play some role in levelling speed. Reddit user morkulth and experienced MMORPG player, who cited a 54 hour level-cap time for The Elder Scrolls Online, said that choosing to be a sorcerer had aided his levelling thanks to a “lightning form” morph that increased movement speed by 35%.
"So point of the fact is that you can zig zag back and forth across the level 15+ zones very quickly as a sorcerer,” he claimed. “Almost all of the [Aldmeri Dominion] story quests shoot right down the middle of the zone and you can complete it once you hit it. I actually had to skip about 1/2 the zone because leveling was so quick.”
If The Elder Scrolls Online creative director Paul Sage is to be believed, 150 hours will be a fraction of what many will be able to do in the game. He has estimated previously that the title will take the fastest players 150 hours, saying that once players have acces to areas belonging to other alliances they will experience up to 450 hours of solid questing before even tentatively getting involved with PvP.
You can read GD’s own Divayth giving his initial impressions of The Elder Scrolls Onlinehere.
The upcoming MMORPG currently has a level cap of 50, with playtesters indicating that reaching that mark will take anywhere between 50 and 150 hours of time investment...
The Elder Scrolls Online Beta ScreenshotThere is also some indication that - as in World Of Warcraft - character choice might play some role in levelling speed. Reddit user morkulth and experienced MMORPG player, who cited a 54 hour level-cap time for The Elder Scrolls Online, said that choosing to be a sorcerer had aided his levelling thanks to a “lightning form” morph that increased movement speed by 35%.
"So point of the fact is that you can zig zag back and forth across the level 15+ zones very quickly as a sorcerer,” he claimed. “Almost all of the [Aldmeri Dominion] story quests shoot right down the middle of the zone and you can complete it once you hit it. I actually had to skip about 1/2 the zone because leveling was so quick.”
If The Elder Scrolls Online creative director Paul Sage is to be believed, 150 hours will be a fraction of what many will be able to do in the game. He has estimated previously that the title will take the fastest players 150 hours, saying that once players have acces to areas belonging to other alliances they will experience up to 450 hours of solid questing before even tentatively getting involved with PvP.
You can read GD’s own Divayth giving his initial impressions of The Elder Scrolls Onlinehere.
Written by Katie Allen on 18 February 2014 at 17:45
4
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AMD has been dominating the cheaper end of the GPU market for the last few months, and have only added to the spread of cards available around the $100 mark recently following the unveiling of the AMD Radeon R7 250, R7 250X, R7 260 and R7 260X cards.
Unsurprisingly, however, it hasn’t taken long for Nvidia to step up the competition. Its GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti cards launched today and, having seen their competitive specs earlier this week, we now have a competitive price to accompany it…
We were promised on their announcement that the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and 750 would be filling Nvidia’s $100-$150 market. This was confirmed upon the launch of the two cards earlier today. The GeForce GTX 750 comes in at $119, exactly the same as the recent Radeon R7 260X. Meanwhile, the slightly more powerful GeForce 750 Ti has price competition from the Radeon R7 265; both cards fill the $149 price placement.
Looking at benchmarks for the two cards for Battlefield 4 and Bioshock Infinite, we can see that both manage to perform well against AMD cards in the same price range, and both hit well above the psychological 30FPS barrier on high and ultra settings.
As you can see, the performance difference between the 750Ti and 750 and their AMD competitors is not particularly significant. Whilst the GeForce GTX 750's predecessor the GeForce GTX 650 was not included in this benchmark test, the new GeForce 750 Ti shows a massive performance increase of nearly 25% compared to the 650 Ti that it succeeds.
The GeForce 750 Ti's strong performance is equally evident in Battlefield 4 benchmarks. Unsurprisingly, the AMD cards sneak ahead here by some margin in the AMD-optimized games, although the new additions to the Nvidia line-up still show strong FPS rates on High settings at 1080p.
It will no doubt prove something of a disappointment for many that the GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti will not support SLI, unlike its their obvious competitors, the AMD R7 260X and R7 265 , which do implement CrossFire support. However, considering the extremely low power consumption of these two cards, their performances are very impressive, and they look more than set to rival their AMD equivalents at the $100 - $150 mark, performing well in Benchmark tests against similarly priced cards.
What do you think of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti? Do they look like worthy market competitors from Nvidia? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
You can check out Pip’s article - which has a full rundown of the specifications of these two cards as well as an explanation of their new Maxwell architecture.
Unsurprisingly, however, it hasn’t taken long for Nvidia to step up the competition. Its GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti cards launched today and, having seen their competitive specs earlier this week, we now have a competitive price to accompany it…
We were promised on their announcement that the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and 750 would be filling Nvidia’s $100-$150 market. This was confirmed upon the launch of the two cards earlier today. The GeForce GTX 750 comes in at $119, exactly the same as the recent Radeon R7 260X. Meanwhile, the slightly more powerful GeForce 750 Ti has price competition from the Radeon R7 265; both cards fill the $149 price placement.
Looking at benchmarks for the two cards for Battlefield 4 and Bioshock Infinite, we can see that both manage to perform well against AMD cards in the same price range, and both hit well above the psychological 30FPS barrier on high and ultra settings.
As you can see, the performance difference between the 750Ti and 750 and their AMD competitors is not particularly significant. Whilst the GeForce GTX 750's predecessor the GeForce GTX 650 was not included in this benchmark test, the new GeForce 750 Ti shows a massive performance increase of nearly 25% compared to the 650 Ti that it succeeds.
The GeForce 750 Ti's strong performance is equally evident in Battlefield 4 benchmarks. Unsurprisingly, the AMD cards sneak ahead here by some margin in the AMD-optimized games, although the new additions to the Nvidia line-up still show strong FPS rates on High settings at 1080p.
It will no doubt prove something of a disappointment for many that the GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti will not support SLI, unlike its their obvious competitors, the AMD R7 260X and R7 265 , which do implement CrossFire support. However, considering the extremely low power consumption of these two cards, their performances are very impressive, and they look more than set to rival their AMD equivalents at the $100 - $150 mark, performing well in Benchmark tests against similarly priced cards.
What do you think of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti? Do they look like worthy market competitors from Nvidia? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
You can check out Pip’s article - which has a full rundown of the specifications of these two cards as well as an explanation of their new Maxwell architecture.
| In Movie Theaters: | Friday, February 14, 2014 Nationwide
Released; Now Playing
|
|---|---|
| Director: | Akiva Goldsman |
| Cast: more cast | Russell Crowe . . . Pearly Soames Jessica Brown Findlay . . . Beverly Penn Will Smith . . . Judge Colin Farrell . . . Peter Lake William Hurt . . . Isaac Penn Jennifer Connelly . . . Virginia Gamely |
| Companies: | Warner Bros. Pictures & 1 more |
| Rating: |
PG-13
for violence and some sensuality. |
Storyline
Set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century, Winter's Tale is a story of miracles, crossed destinies, and the age-old battle between good and evil.
