"It has been five years since "Halo 3" was released, and it looks as if "Halo" fans were more than ready for the successor. "Halo 4," which features the return of "Master Chief," was released today for Microsoft's Xbox 360.
The first-person shooter is the first game in a new trilogy of the "Halo" series. It takes place three years after "Halo 3" ended, and represents the return of the Master Chief as the protagonist.
It has been five years since "Halo 3" was released, and it looks as if "Halo" fans were more than ready for the successor. "Because there hasn't been a game to star "Master Chief" for five years, there's a bit of a pent-up demand," said Ryan McCaffrey, Xbox Executive Editor at IGN.com.
"Halo 4's" plot is centralized around "Master Chief" and his ability to kill evil aliens while trying to save his AI friend, Cortana. "
Elite ... what a classic. Can't wait for the remake in 2014. The YouTube clip isn't Elite, but a downloadable spacesimulator called Pioneer.
"Classic video game Elite is getting a 21st Century makeover. David Braben, one of the creators of the original, is seeking £1.25m ($2m) via Kickstarter to fund the updated version.
Called Elite: Dangerous it will involve the same mix of interstellar travel, trading, piracy and spaceships as the original 8-bit game. Those who pledge cash to the project will also get a chance to shape the development of the updated version.
"Elite is a game that I've wanted to come back to for a very, very long time," Mr Braben told the BBC. "It's the sort of game that I would very much like to play today."
The updated version will keep the open-ended, space trading setting and will make use of modern PC power to create a vast interstellar territory that players can explore. Ships will be fitted with hyperspace drives to enable them to get around and the planets, stars, asteroid belts and other things found in deep space will be procedurally generated.
However, said Mr Braben, its exact final form will be partly down to those that pledge cash. "The people who are involved in Kickstarter can be involved in the game," he said."
Let's hope this voice assistant don't give you directions to brothels like Apple's Siri ... LOL!
"Google has released an update to its search app that includes voice recognition, putting it in competition with Apple's digital assistant Siri. Early reviews suggest that the software is fast and accurate.
The release comes in the same week that Apple ousted its senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forstall, who was in charge of Siri.
Siri has not been without controversy and some critics believe that it was overhyped. In a blog post Google said of the new app: "When you ask a question, finding the answer should be effortless."
"The new Google search app for iPhone and iPad helps you to do just that with enhanced voice search that answer any question with the comprehensive Google search results you know."
Users of the app need to tap on a microphone icon and ask a question to see weblinks and pictures that might answer it."
In the future, we could be have "bugs" or "viruses" that can truely have A.I. ... causing havoc among systems.
"A bug that works like a disease in humans is permanently killing off characters in the Borderlands 2 video game. The bug only strikes those playing the game via Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.
It revolves around a hidden feature that can only be activated by those that have modified their console. Gamers who play alongside people who have modded their console "contract" the bug which deletes their character if they die during play.
The hidden option within the game, known as "badass" or "hardcore", is turned off by default but can be enabled by those that have modified or hacked their console. "Modding" involves altering the hardware or software in a console so it can run pirated games, development code or other non-official programs."
Microsoft decide to do a U-turn on banning adult games for the Windows 8 platform.
"Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Skyrim and other mature games will no longer be banned from the European Windows 8 Store. The store is the official outlet for programs Microsoft has tested to ensure they work with Windows 8.
A mismatch in the US and Europe over game ratings led to the games' exclusion outside North America. Microsoft has relaxed its restrictions so the titles will be tested to work on PCs and tablets running Windows 8."
I guess video processing does take a lot of power ... especially if the CPU in these Windows RT tablets are not upto scratch. We'll need quad core 2.0Ghz CPUs !!
"Skype's video chat software has been re-engineered to radically cut its energy use on the upcoming Windows 8 operating systems. The application is designed to stop using the computer's central processing unit (CPU) when it is left to run in the background.
It means users can receive calls or instant messages without the risk of exhausting their laptop battery. The move may help Skype compete against Oovoo, Google Talk and other rivals.
Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5bn (£5.3bn) last year. Although it has integrated the product into its Outlook.com web email service, it will continue to offer Skype as a separate installable application on its new system, avoiding the risk of anti-competition complaints."
You know what they say ... It's FREE, what more do you want?
"A promotion by games company Electronic Arts (EA) offering users one free game allowed them to download as many as they wanted. The promotion was intended for those who completed a survey, presenting them with a code for $20 (£13) of software to be used in EA's Origin online store.
The amount is enough to download one free game. But after people found they could use the code multiple times, it was quickly passed around the online community.
A thread was posted on social media site Reddit, where users said it had been possible to download dozens of games during a period of about 18 hours over the weekend. The promo code became invalid at about 09:00 on Monday."
Angry Birds vs Bad Piggies ... who will win? Rumors has it that Rovio could float its stock next year if Bad Piggies does well ... lol! I guess the piggy bank did save some cash then!
"Mobile gaming developer Rovio has launched its latest title, Bad Piggies - a spin-off of its hugely popular game, Angry Birds. The company hopes its latest effort will prove that its 2009 hit, which has been downloaded over a billion times, was not a one-off.
A more recent Rovio release, Amazing Alex, failed to sustain early success. If Bad Piggies sells well, some analysts believe Rovio may float its stock as soon as next year.
The game once again features a cartoon-style physics-based environment. However, instead of launching birds out of catapults players must construct vehicles out of a selection of parts to deliver the swine to a finish line, collecting stars along the way. The original Angry Birds games attracted up to 200 million active players a month towards the end of 2011."
Apple's crap map app has cause a huge disappointment among its fans ... now they decides to correct its mistakes by allowing Google to have a map app for Apple iOS devices. Make up your mind!
"iOS 6 users can finally have a maps app that works. For the iOS 6 users that hate Apple's new home-grown mapping feature, don't fret -- Google is on the way with a Google Maps iPhone/iPad app. However, we won't see it for a couple of months.
It has been confirmed by anonymous sources close to Google that the tech giant is working on iPhone/iPad Google Maps apps. This is likely a relief for many iOS users, who are anything but fond of Apple's latest maps app.
Last week, Apple released its latest mobile operating system iOS 6 days ahead of its iPhone 5 launch. Since iOS 6's release, a chief complaint has been that the maps app is completely off as far as geography and navigation."
