Nvidia GTX 780
It almost feels like we have been seeing the 600 series of cards from Nvidia for a few years now. At a year and two months we are a little past due to see a new generation of cards and today we can finally take the wraps off of NVidia’s latest card, the GTX 780. Rumors have been going around for a while on this launch so let’s just jump right into it and see what it’s all about and then how it performs. One thing is for sure, this will be the start of a lot of exciting cards, and 2013 is going to be a good year!
A year later: Transformer Prime
I’m going to come clean to you guys/girls. I have had tablets for the past 2-3 years and for the first few years, I really never put them to use. I found them to be cumbersome, slow, and there just wasn’t enough reason to use them. Frankly I could do it all on my phone just as well, with a smaller screen of course. About a year ago I had a Transformer Prime come in. With Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad core CPU I was intrigued and the optional keyboard was icing on the cake. I decided to REALLY give it a try and see what I thought. A year later I want to talk a little about my experience.
Truly Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard Model 207
When it comes to ergonomic keyboards there are only a few to pick from and, for the most part, all of those are rubber dome keyboards. Ergonomic mechanical keyboards are really limited to two different models, one being the Truly Ergonomic. Today we are going to take a look to see how it compares to everything I have tested to date. I expect an adjustment period just to its shape alone, but as a writer by trade I am very curious how it will affect me day to day. The gamer in me is just as curious on how it will perform in game as well. Let’s take a closer look.
Genius Ring Mouse 2
When it comes to pointers for the computer there are multiple solutions. Most of them come in the traditional flat on a mouse pad form, but occasionally a company comes up with an innovative way to control the pointer on our screen. Genius has developed a “ring mouse” and I have the pleasure of looking at their second version of this particular design in the Ring Mouse 2. I will look at the device’s versatility and functionality in this review and see how it stacks up not only as a pointer, but also as an alternative solution to our browsing needs.
Asus Maximus V Formula
Let’s be honest, Asus has a whole product line full of good motherboards. So much that it really takes a special motherboard to stand out from the crowd. There has been one specific board that has stuck with me for the past year and a half though, back from when I took a visit to the Asus office and they pulled it out to show me. That motherboard would be the Maximus V Formula. I’m sure you are wondering what made it stand out, especially considering all of the motherboards we have in the office, including boards like the Rampage IV. Well I only have a limited amount of space in the opening; you will have to peek inside our review to find out.
An update has been released for RAGE that updates the game giving you more video options. VSync has been allowed to be turned off, on and smart. Texture Cache has also been added as a setting. This allows more texture’s to be stored in the VRAM, more is better, right? They have also added Anisotropic Filter settings to the game. While this lets you mess around more in game I noticed some weird effects when I “cranked” everything up. Also, when turning VSync off it didn’t do anything. I had to go into the Nvidia Control Panel and adjust it there. Not that it is a big deal but that is the first game that I had to mess around with the CP for something to work in game. Either way, games that let you mess around with the config files is what us PC gamers want. Why these were not in the game in first place is beyond me.
THQ Week:
So after using the Galaxy Tab 8.9 for a week I have been playing a couple of games that I wanted to share with you. The first game Robotek is part slot machine, part RPG and part tower defense. You spin the reels ala Vegas style slot machines, build up your army and then attack your opponent. It is not very hard to play but it is hard to master. The controls work very well for a touch screen device. There is no aiming while playing and the only part that actually needs to be clicked on are the reels. It’s a simple but yet rewarding game. Free
Minecraft is now out for more Android devices. I have downloaded the demo and the controls are awful. If you pair up a controller with your device it would be passable but then why not play on your PC. It looks about the same as on a PC but I just can’t get over how bad the controls are. For $7 it might be worth a shot but do yourself a favor and download the demo first.
Pinball HD for tablets is another great game to wast time on. Pinball FX has always been a great favorite of mine but not having a console anymore I was in need of a good pinball game. Pinball HD takes the cake. The ball physics are what make a great pinball game and Pinball HD has awesome physics. The graphics in the game are also great. The only part that is lacking is the three tables in the game. Hopefully down the road they will add more but for now it is curing my pinball addiction. $2.99
Anyone else remember playing R.C. Pro AM? I hated that game when I first played it. Over time though it grew on me and ended up loving it. I could literally lap the field when I was in my prime. Now with all the new tech Bang Bang Racing is the new R.C. Pro AM for tablets. The game looks great along with great sound. The controls can be switched between four setups so there is bound to be one that you like. It has more depth than R.C. did but then again this is a very small game. Just don’t rage quit. Stick it out till the end, you never know what can happen on the last lap. $5.98
DSLR controller is one of those apps that I would like to personally thank the dev for making, lol. Take your Canon DSLR your tablet and hook them together to use as a viewfinder. This app couldn’t be better. You can adjust all of your camera’s setting in the app and it gives you a bigger screen to see what your shooting. When shooting at night you really want a remote but with those costing about $20 you can use your tablet and this $8 app and get the same results and maybe even better. $8.52
TegraZone is also a nice little app to use to see what games are out and which ones are coming out for your Tegra equipped tablet. Sure, you might want to make sure your tablet has a Tegra chip but its a nice little app to see what is up and coming in the game department. Free
Midweek Madness:
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record:
Anyone want some more killing spree’s? Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is out now. Download it now for some more Frank West nonsense. It looks like you will replay the outbreak on Fortune City from the first game. Seems like it could be a ton of fun. Nothing better than mowing zombies down with a lawn mower. Check it out on Steam now.
L.A. Noire:
Anyone else want to play this but don’t own a console? Well, your in luck. Rockstar has said that it porting over L.A. Noire. I didn’t see a release date but who cares. I love Rockstar games as the always immerse you in the action. With the tech that they used to do the faces in the game this should be a great one. I know some of their games in the past have been bad on release dates so I would hold off for a couple of days after release, remember GTA IV?
Left Field:
So what did everyone think of the beta for Battlefield 3? I had a fun time with the game but like I have said numerous times until it is on Steam and I don’t have to use Origin I will not be buying it. Also, having it use Origin almost seem stupid considering you really don’t even use it. Everything is done through Battlelog and that is in your defult browser. I would have liked it for them to keep everything the same. No need to do everything through the browser, just another application that needs to run with the game. Remember, less is more.
Anyone else excited for the new Nexus phone? I thought that it was first class of Google and Samsung to postpone the release considering Steve Jobs death.
I hope everyone read Chad’s article on Steve Jobs. I will be the first one to admit that I am not a Apple fan but they do make some sexy hardware, it’s just grossly overpriced. But Steve Jobs did so much for the tech industry and we should all be thankful for that. I was disgusted as some of the comments that I read on the internet. People vary rarely talk like that in public and if they do they end up on the floor or they don’t have the balls to say it. But when people hide behind a screen name on a computer they say all kinds of stupid things. All I can say is thanks Steve for pushing the industry.
Well that was a long Gaming News this week. Have a good rest of the week everyone. Also remember that our LanOC staff is heading out to California for the Geforce LAN this weekend. I would have gone but I already had prior engagements. Keep an eye on the forums for the latest updates, pics and videos from the LAN.
Until next week,
Wingless is out!
- Lersar
- Arxon
- Kazuma
- draymac
- Satansoul
- garfi3ld
| LanOC V13 Status | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
