News, glorious news. To be honest we just do this to enjoy the picture of the breakfast wrap. It’s still the only human meal we have a penchant for. Other than a human of course.
PC style news first, as Razer have revealed the ‘Edge‘ – a tablet developed specifically for gamers. Once upon a time known as ‘Project Fiona’, the tablet is “essentially a high-end tablet PC running Windows 8 and capable of running all PC games and applications”. There are two SKUs available now (in the US at least). ‘Edge Pro’ ($1299) has an Intel Core i7 Dual core CPU running at 1.9GHz/Turbo 3.0GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM (2x4GB 1600MHz), an NVIDIA GT 640M LE with 2GB DDR3 memory and Optimus Technology and a 128/256GB solid-state hard drive, pushing pictures to a 10.1-inch, 1366×768 display. The lower-spec ‘Edge’ ($999), has an Intel Core i5 at 1.7GHz / Turbo 2.6GHz, 4GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD and the GT 640M LE GPU has 1GB of DDR3 memory.
Gabe Newell has told The Verge that Valve will release its own hardware separate to Project Piston. The Valve Steam Box is currently codenamed Bigfoot, and Valve is open to working with more third parties. However, it appears that the Valve Steam Box will not see the light of day this year. Speaking to Engadget, Valve hardware engineer Ben Krasnow said he did not specify a 2013 reveal during his speech at the German tech conference, despite reports by Golem.de that he did. Valve are also working on a new biometric controller as they aren’t convinced by motion control. The controller will apparently measure the player’s state through biometric data… what exactly that means to you and me is unclear.
Finally in PC related news, Windows 8 has apparently sold 60 million copies to date according to Microsoft and there he been 100 million Windows Store apps downloaded in two months.
If all this talk about PC has you (as a console gamer) worried, fear not. Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, has stated that the console business is “not going away any time soon“. So breathe easy…
Naughty Dog release a new block mesh Lab map for Uncharted 3‘s multiplayer component, which is smaller than the one released in December last year. The new map is a “smaller map with two main bases, close quarters and some prime sniper towers”. There is no specified release date currently.
Apple is apparently working on a cheaper iPhone. This is according to the Wall Street Journal who cite “people briefed on the matter”, and claims that a lower-end iPhone could launch later this year.
Some Xbox Live news for you. There’s a sale now on that runs until 14 January and includes discounts on BioShock, Borderlands, Mafia and Duke Nukem stuff. Check here for all the goodies up for sale. Xbox Live – or Microsoft at least – are happy to pat themselves on the back and claim that NUads has been a success, leading to a 37% engagement rate. What are NUads you ask? Those interactive 30-second style TV spots on your Dashboard (in the US and UK at least)… annoying aren’t they? And now you cane probably expect more…
Fallout 4 is coming. Well, it may be coming. That’s according to voice actor Erik Todd Dellums, who played radio DJ “Three Dog” in Fallout 3.
Finally, Dead Rising 2 developers Capcom Vancouver have unannounced that they are working on two unannounced projects. At least one game doesn’t feature zombies… meaning the other one does. As posted on the developer’s official website for a recruitment ad: “Capcom has one of the industry’s greatest back catalogs but for our next project we’ve been given the opportunity to create Capcom’s next big game.”
