The HD 7750 is a performance-level graphics card that doesn’t need a separate power connector operating at under 75 W. Both new GPU’s use the 28nm process AMD has been building GPUs on most recently. The 7700 series GPUs use AMD Graphics Core Architecture for performance and efficiency. The GPUs also support PCI Express 3.0, AMD ZeroCore Power, PowerTune, AMD Eyefinity 2.0 and AMD App technologies.

The new 7700 series graphics cards are both available today the retailers and online sellers globally. Some versions of the AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition with 1 GB of RAM will start at $159 with the HD 7750 1 GB cards starting at $109. The video cards sound like they will offer very impressive performance at a low price that should be appealing to gamers on a budget.

“We were first to 40nm, first to 28nm and now we offer the world’s first GPU at 1GHz; this is a milestone for the graphics industry,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU Division, AMD. “AMD continues to deliver superior performance, rich features and world-class power efficiency – we never stop innovating.”

The large over the ear headset has a microphone boom for chat during gaming, virtual 7.1 surround sound, and it has vibration effects that can be turned on or off. The headset also has integrated volume control, and the mic can be muted. It connects to computers via USB. The microphone is uni-directional to capture the voice without grabbing background noise.

The headset drivers are 40 mm and have a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with 32 ohm impedance. Sensitivity is 96 dB, and the USB cable is 2.5 m long. The headset will sell for $79.90 and should be available online soon.

This build is also completely unofficial, so don’t expect a full build any time soon, especially not from the folks at Valve (the developers of the Portal series.) Having literally just played the first dozen levels of Portal 2 again earlier this week, I must say – this does look rather exciting. Should these rogue developers be able to produce the Portal series in its entirety, Android might just become home to a whole new breed of PC game lovers.

This game has been ported on Unity Engine and give a quick hands-on video here courtesy of the folks who plan on bringing GLaDOS to us via the mobile environment anew. You can find the pre-developed apk file for this game in the same forum post the video originated in, but I and we warn you: take caution. There’s no telling whether this build will do good or evil to your device. Instead it’d be best to wait for a further build down the line, much safer that way.

[via DroidGamers]

This version of the game is made to work in your home for multiplayer, sure, but where it really explodes is its online play where you’ll get to rock out one of your four teams that correlate with one of the classic characters from the series: Sweet Tooth (The Clowns), Dollface (The Dolls), Mr. Grimm (The Skulls) and the Preacher (The Holy Men). Not only are you encouraged to play epic battles on the PlayStation Network, you’ve got several modes of play including the brand new terror known as Nuke Mode.

In Nuke Mode your goal is to take your opponent’s team leader hostage, sacrifice them to your missile launcher, and knock out a piece of your enemy’s giant metal statue. The metal statue your opponent has is being held high by a helicopter. How all of this makes any sense in the real world, we do not know – but it seems entertaining! This newest version of the game also contains a whole new set of vehicles including Death Warrant (aka a Ford Mustang), a Roadboat (one gigantic beast of a vehicle indeed), Vermin (for capturing your mice friends,) and the ever classic Sweet Tooth ice cream truck.

Again this game is out right now and you should pick it up as soon as possible – then watch out for us, because we’ll be crushing!

Other elements of the campaign include sponsored Twitter messages, online and real-world adverts and radio ads on the Howard Stern show, along with a commercial filmed in Buenos Aires. One theme Sony is particularly keen to push is the relatively seamless integration of gameplay between the PS Vita and the PS3, with the advert storyline showing how one gamer picks up the same title on the portable that he began playing on the home console.

The challenge, though, will be avoiding the same fate that befell the Vita in Japan. Despite having initially sold out in preorders, sales subsequently dived and retailers cut pricing in response. The decline was blamed in part on a shortage of solid early titles, something Sony had even said it would avoid being an issue back in December.

Even before the PS Vita arrives on the US market, set for February 22, some are already predicting that it will be the last of Sony’s dedicated portables. Even Sony might have quietly come to the same conclusion; the PS Vita OS itself is tipped to show up on future Sony smartphones as the company pulls together its future mobile strategy.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai – at the time chief of the company’s Computer Entertainment division, and since made overall CEO – said that the PlayStation Suite platform “isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family.” Instead, it’s intended to be Sony’s first “cross-platform endeavor” he explained.

The PlayStation Suite has, so far, been limited to Sony and Sony Ericsson hardware. As well as the gaming smartphone, certification has been extended to Sony’s Tablet P and Tablet S hardware, giving the slates access to the PlayStation download store with various classic PSOne titles.

The news goes some way to addressing the question of whether Sony intends to try to sell customers all of the hardware – phone, tablet, TV and computer – in its “four-screen” strategy, or of ceding some of the market by embracing a cross-manufacturer ecosystem. Hirai has been blunt in suggesting that Sony must look to user experience not simply hardware if it wants to turn its fortunes around, and part of that strategy appears to be bringing other OEMs onboard to fill in potential gaps in its line-up.

Angry Birds has certainly become a phenomenon, and the game has been available on the desktop and just about every mobile device out there for a while. However, this marks the first time it has landed on a social network, and the Facebook version has some special features. The special features are power ups that can be used to help defeat difficult levels, in other words, you can cheat if you’re willing to pay.

There are four different power ups that can be accessed using a lightning bolt on the top of the Angry Birds screen. These power ups will cost real money to use, granted it’s very cheap. The power ups cost you one dollar for 20 uses. The Facebook version of the game runs on Flash Player 11 supporting 3-D graphics for enhanced lighting, smoke, and explosions.

[via CNET]

But just because the PlayStation Vita seems attractive, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be a winner. In fact, I’m a firm believer that the Vita will be Sony’s last portable, and the device that could very well put an end to the company’s entire mobile-gaming division.

Believe it or not, that anticipated decline has nothing to do with Sony’s own strategy. The company is doing just what it should — delivering a top-notch portable that serious gamers can enjoy.

However, that serious gamer is changing his or her mind on what they’re looking for in portables. There was a time when only companies like Nintendo or Sony could deliver what they wanted. But with iPhones and Android-based smartphones becoming increasingly popular, and developers creating high-quality games for those platforms, the need for a standalone portable has declined significantly.

It’s also not a good idea on any company’s part nowadays to focus solely on the so-called “hardcore” gamer. The hardcore segment once drove much of the game revenue the industry generated, but it’s now a small portion of the entire market. In order for a console or portable device to become popular, it’ll need the mainstream’s help. And right now, the mainstream has no interest in buying a portable gaming device.

I’m also concerned about the PlayStation Vita’s price. Yes, $250 is the sweet spot in the mobile space right now, but that’s only for devices that do much, much more than Sony’s portable. Worst of all, the most popular smartphone on the market — Apple’s iPhone — comes in at just $199 to start, making just about anyone wonder why they should be spending $50 more to get a device that does less than their smartphone.

Sony also hasn’t made a convincing argument for getting consumers to opt for the PlayStation Vita over the Nintendo 3DS. For years now, Sony has been trying to catch up to Nintendo, and so far, the company hasn’t been able to do so. Remember the mainstream I was talking about? It loves Nintendo. And based on PlayStation Portable sales, it appears it wasn’t as fond of Sony’s device over the years.

At the end of the day, I think the PlayStation Vita will be Sony’s last portable. The company was late to understand the mainstream, its new device can’t compete against smartphones, and eventually its incoming CEO Kaz Hirai will realize that focusing solely on consoles is the way to go.

For major game companies, portable gaming is a toxic market. Microsoft knows it. Nintendo is realizing it. And Sony will soon be a victim to it.

What you’ve got to do in this game – available for both the iPad 1/2 and the iPhone – note that we’re reviewing it on an iPhone 4S here – is keep yourself in the game. In the hands-on video I compare this game to the greatest schoolyard game you might never have played: Spread the Eagle. This game from your middle-school days was one in which you didn’t necessarily have to do anything at all in order to stay in the game, but because you want to have fun, you go nuts with action. The same is true here, to a degree, as the monsters surrounding your building want to have a great time, and if you give them condos to eat, they most certainly will!

If you give them the wrong color condos to eat – you’ll notice they’re color-coded – you’ll find that they are prone to getting angry. There are so many symbols and markers, graphics that’ll blow your mind, and animations that you’ll be surprised are sitting pretty here on a game that costs less than a buck, and it’s all controlled with one of two actions: swipe left, or swipe right!

Feed the right colors to the right monsters, then try to match up three of the same color condo to switch your monsters out and drum up additional points. There are several modes of play, but the game concept remains the same through the whole of them: keep the monsters happy, and keep your tower straight. This game is a must-buy for those of you wishing to see the full graphics capabilities of your iPad or iPhone – but don’t let your grandmother play it, she’ll likely freak out. Monsters Ate My Condo is available on the iTunes App Store right this minute for $0.99 cheap!

For it’s truly the everywhere gaming model that Sony is latching onto here, with gamers that want an unending stream of games at their fingertips at the heart of it all. It’s not just gaming on the go that these players desire, Sony has decided, its inexpensive gaming, games that can be downloaded and accessed anywhere, all the greatness of the mobile world that’s been missing in the hardware world. Smartphones and tablets are the opponents of the PS Vita, so says Sony.

The folks at Interpublic Group of Companies group Deutsch’s executive vice president and creative director, mister Jason Elm, spoke with the NYTimes about the campaign they’d whipped up for the current continuation of the worldwide release of the PS Vita. He’s got no qualms with wanting the gamers of the earth to plug in and tune out:

“[This campaign's audience is] very socially plugged in, mobile, out and about, both physically and on the Internet. Gaming is no longer playing alone in a basement by one person with one machine; it’s all networked.” – Elm

The operating system on the device has been suggested as being a viable candidate for additional wireless-data-connected devices as well, with Yoshio Matsumoto, Director of Business and Sony Computer Entertainment SVP, speaking on how this device is just the thin edge of the wedge:

“[Translated:] I’d like to point out that I mentioned the first thing Vita is is a hardware that provides digital entertainment only, and there there is the Vita OS which at the moment is just the OS made to provide it. The OS will continue to provide entertainment of all kinds, and though it’s made here to provide for a portable machine the best gaming experience for game enthusiasts, this is the thing edge of the wedge first.” – Matsumoto

So what we’ve got here is the successes of the mobile world in a smartphone-esque operating system running on a fully PlayStation 3 connected handheld gaming powerhouse. It’s as if it couldn’t possibly fail, yes? We’ll see how the PS Vita fares here in the USA after it’s been out for an extended period – soon!

This controller will connect to your mobile device, by it your iPod Touch, your Android phone you iPad, or what-have-you, with Bluetooth. This is an extension of the already popular iCade line created by ThinkGeek, each new bit released by the team creating a cross-over gaming experience that shouldn’t be missed! As ThinkGeek GeekLabs’s oan Ty Liotta notes,

“We’re excited to extend on the success of the original iCADE. And with millions of iOS and Android devices in circulation it only makes sense to widen the field and bring the fun of iCADE to every possible device.” – Liotta

This controller is battery powered and has eight fully fucntional buttons, controlling everything from the original Pac Man to Super Mega Worm to more modern games as well. Developers can get in on documentation for the controller here and start making their games ready for the oncoming of this magical device in full force soon! Games like Box Cat, Muffin Knight, Plum Crazy, and more are already ready to work with the controller before it’s released! This controller has been revealed at the 2012 Toy Fair in New York City and will be available for purchase later this year for $24.99 – we’ll be sure to let you know how fabulous it truly is!

The tip came from Activision’s recent earnings report, which clearly stated the Q1 2012 outlook does not include a new release from Blizzard. Activision did report that two new releases from Blizzard Entertainment were expected in 2012. Some other good gaming news came out of the earnings report with Activision noting that the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection will come in March, and a new game in the COD franchise is expected this year.

Another new title expected this year is Skylanders Giants. During the earnings report, Activision also noted that World of Warcraft lost 100,000 subscribers leaving 10.2 million active users globally. The game is still the top subscription-based MMORPG around the world.

[via Tom's Hardware]

Over the last few months, we’ve seen several projects that have been successful in racking up significantly more money than the project owners figured they needed. Kickstarter has announced that there are now two products going on the site that have racked up huge sums in pledges. In fact, both the Elevation Dock for the iPhone and the Tim Schafer video game project dubbed Double Fine Adventure have both surpassed the $1 million mark.

The Elevation Dock hit the $1 million donation mark as of yesterday at about 1:30 PM Eastern. Double Fine Adventure hit the million-dollar mark yesterday as well. That is very impressive, the Schafer project was seeking only $400,000. I wonder if racking up such a huge amount of money above and beyond what the project was seeking is a blessing or curse. Having to build and ship a physical product such as the Elevation Dock for the iPhone in such a massive quantity could potentially be a burden to the new company with limited resources.

[via TheVerge]

The PS Vita First Edition bundle will include the 3G-enabled unit itself along with a 4GB PS Vita memory card, a limited edition carrying case, and a physical copy of the Little Deviants game. The bundle will also include a set of AR Play game cards that enable augmented reality play with a host of mini games that can be downloaded for free.

Additionally, the PS Vita First Edition bundle packs an AT&T DataConnect Session Pass good for one free 250MB data session when you purchase one 250MB data session and a free PlayStation Network game that can be redeemed when you activate 3G for your PS Vita.

[via PlayStation Blog]

Android Temple Run fans should take note that once speaking with the official crew behind the game we’ve discovered that the original March 9th date was never an official marker for the game to come out, only a guesstimation mostly passed on as a rumor. The postponing of this game’s release isn’t so much an error or a fix as it is a simple reality: the game was not necessarily going to come out today anyway. But so it goes, and so goes the game to a later date and we to the waiting box once again.

For those of you rocking an iPod Touch or an iPhone in the meantime, you can head to the iTunes App Store right this second to pick this game up for free. This game also works on iPad and we can expect that it’ll work on any sized Android device once its released as well. Jump and skip and flip and collect those coins soon!

[via Android Community]

The gun is being manufactured by Japanese company called Neca and looks exactly like the weapon from the game. This weapon has always reminded me of a spider with a fat butt. The gun will glow blue or orange depending on which type of portal you’re creating. The replica will be up for pre-order this week.

I wonder if they’ll ship these to the US. The Portal gun sells for ¥16,000, which works out to about $208 in the US. I could certainly see fans of Portal shelling out $208 to on this replica weapon. I’m honestly surprised we’ll see more replica weapons such as these in the toy aisles at stores around the world.

[via RegHardware]

The storyline here is loosely based around the idea that Batman impersonators would certainly take to the streets if Batman ever went missing (it’s happened before!) and tossing in a whole clown-car full of Junior Jokerz, this game blows the top off of what was established in Gotham City and pours a bunch of hot sauce into it. Inside the game you’ve got the option of playing to your own skillset and are able to turn your character in to whatever you want it to be – hair, weapons, makeup and all!

If you’re unable to see this game in your download area for any of the platforms you’ve got right this moment, just wait! This game is slated for yesterday and today and is being rolled out to each system as they’re prepared to bring the fun! Meanwhile we’ve got the game here and are testing it out tonight – so get ready for some fun in the interim if you’re up for it!

The first few games that have been listed by Ubisoft that are certainly affected by the transition time are Assasin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2, Might & Magic : Heroes VI, Splinter Cell Conviction, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom, and The Settlers. While this list appeared at first to be the only set of games affected by the downtime, it’s not being reported from multiple sources and gamers emailing us directly that games such as Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Driver San Francisco are being knocked out now as well. In addition, all Ubisoft websites except for their Consumer Service and official forums have been guaranteed to be staying up during the transition, but we’ll see as the transition continues.

Uplay PC games are completely unplayable during this period, and players playing ANNO have been sent a guide which tells them to start off in offline mode, then once they’re in the main menu, to log in with their account data and they’ll be good to go. Try this out with similar games to see how they work as well! Meanwhile know this: Ubisoft currently has the servers nearly turned over at this point and are restoring what they can when they can as we speak. Everything should be back up by the end of today!

Have a peek at the preview for this modification in the video below. It’s not that this modification will bring you any sort of awesome futuristic abilities, but you will have a friendly little orb to help you fill the long walks across the plains. This Fall of the Space Core, Volume 1 modification will be just the first of many mods from the Valve crew as the “1″ bit suggests. Can you imagine Skyrim full of Portal guns – the madness of dragons flying through the ground and out of the wall is too much to handle!

Head down to the Steam Workshop and check out the creation and get yourself in on the project. You simply MUST help out to bring this sort of crossover action to the game and future games if you ever want to see the ultimate battle to rule them all: dragons verses Batman in Skyrim. Of course there’s a need for such a thing, what do you think this gaming universe is all about? There’s also one whole heck of a lot more mods out there already – check them all out!

[via Steam Workshop]

Sony confirmed earlier this month that it would be offering discounts for those buying their games digitally rather than in physical stores. Already showing up for sale are Hot Shots at $36, WipEout 2048 at $36 and Modnation Racers Road Trip at $27, each with a 10-percent cut from the MRSP, though Uncharted is $50 and Super Stardust Delta is $10, each with no discount.

The pricing is already prompting upset among would-be PS Vita buyers, who have highlighted that taking 10-percent from Sony’s MRSP is still more than some third-party retailers are asking for boxed games. WipEout 2048, for instance, is available for $29.99 online.

The PlayStation update v4.10 also renames the PSN to the Sony Entertainment Network, as well as improving the console’s browser. According to Sony, rendering in the browser is now faster.

[via The Sixth Axis]

A £5 initial top-up is good for 250MB of data (that expires after 30 days) over Vodafone’s 3G network. Of course, there’s also WiFi if you’d rather not use the 3G. Those who buy the PS Vita 3G elsewhere will be able to get WipEout 2048 themselves by slotting in a Vodafone SIM and topping up £5.

Released in Japan in December 2011, the PS Vita has struggled to gain a grip on sales, with a lackluster line-up of titles blamed for continuing disappointment at the checkout. That will hopefully change by the time the Vita drops in the US and Europe, with the promise of cheaper downloaded games; however, Sony is courting further disappointment with the news that, in the US at least, PSP owners won’t be able to port their UMD games over to their new PS Vita.

The PS Vita has a 5-inch OLED multitouch display, twin analog sticks, Bluetooth, WiFi and a rear-mounted trackpad. Inside there’s a quadcore ARM Cortex-A9 processor, and Sony loads its own NEAR location-based gaming app.

Japanese gamers with a large collection of UMD games can tie those games to their PSN accounts and then downloaded digital copy of the same game to the Vita for roughly $13. That didn’t seem like a very good deal for a game you already own when I first heard about the UMD Passport. Bt’s infinitely better than just being SOL as gamers in the US are. I’ve seriously begun to think Sony is content to shoot itself in the foot in the portable gaming market.

In short, if you have a large library of UMD games that you enjoy playing on the current PSP, you better keep the PSP around because that is the only way you’ll be playing them short of paying full price and hoping they’re available as a digital download on the Vita. What do you think about this move? Will the lack of the ability to transfer UMD games over mean you’re no longer in the market for PS Vita?

[via EscapistMagazine]

One of my favorites in the pack is the 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8 owned by UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. If you like old school Japanese race cars the 1991 Mazda #55 Team Mazdaspeed 787B with the Wankel rotary engine is in the pack. Another of my favorite cars is included in the new car pack, the 1995 Ford Mustang Cobra R.

The remaining vehicles and pack include: 2011 Bentley Platinum Motorsports Continental GT, 1986 #2 Audi Sport Quattro S1 rally car, 1992 Alpha Romeo 155 Q4, 2011 Holden HSV GTS, and rounding out the cars is the 2011 Volkswagen Polo GTI. This individual pack sells for 560 Microsoft Points, and Season Pass holders will get the add-on as part of the package. The Forza Season Pass costs 2400 Microsoft Points and if purchased now also gets you all six previous add-on packs.

It was in an interview with Digital Spy that Shcafer was speaking about the original Phsychonauts, saying how he’s been wishing he’d be able to create a sequel. Things aren’t so simple as that, of course, as he notes, as it’s not just a developer you need to create a game on such a scale as what Psychonauts 2 would need.

“I mean I get a lot of, on Twitter or whatever, daily questions about Psychonauts 2. And I would love to do Psychonauts 2, I’ve actually pitched that to publishers several times and no-one has taken the bait so far. So it is hard because fans often don’t know how the business works, with the difference between a developer and a publisher, it’s hard to explain that. I’d love to do that game, but I’d have to convince someone to just give me a few million dollars, that’s all.” – Schafer

It just so happens that Notch Persson read said article or was informed in advance that Schafer wanted to do such a project – or perhaps it’s all some big conspiracy to make us love the idea of the game in the near future. Notch spoke on Twitter to the effect of Mojang being interested in making a new game happen.

Their conversation has continued to the effect of hey how are yous and so forth thus far, but we must assume that the mix is going to happen at some point in the next week. Look out for magic soon if this all pans out!

There’s been a leak of the omnipotent colorway everyone always seems to want, white, for the phone that’s coming down to crush us all: Nokia Lumia 900. The entire Canon PowerShot range has been overhauled to include Wifi, waterproofing, GPS, and a whole lot more. The titan known as Skyrim has been brought to a whole new level with the Skyrim Creation Kit for your PC. And if that weren’t enough, you’ll be able to play Skyrim on no less than a brand new Xbox 360 Kinect Star Wars kit starting on the 3rd of April!

There will be no Samsung Galaxy S III release in March. Verizon will be rebooting their double data promotion soon. It’s time to get giddy with Windows 8 gaming as its own line-up is revealed. The Apple iTV rumors continue, and HTC HERO FORCE is not the name for the studio HTC has created for its hero devices in 2012 – but I wish it was!

Shown off back in July last year, the bundle – and the game – has been a long time coming. Originally, Microsoft promised to have the console and title on sale by the 2011 holidays, but plans changed in August when the firm began telling eager gamers that it would instead drop in 2012 giving the developers time to fettle it to its “full potential.”

That game tweaking looks to be at an end, and the promo bundle is finally ready for primetime. Kinect Star Wars itself is priced at around $50, and allows you to hold lightsaber fights, pilot Speeder Bikes and other vehicles, and navigate various puzzles, all using gestures tracked by the Kinect.

There’ll also be a “Jedi Destiny Mode”, Microsoft’s Major Nelson reveals, allowing gamers to duel with Count Dooku and Darth Vader, while those looking for more Lucas-style whimsy can take part in the ‘Galactic Dance Off” mode. That includes a Star Wars-themed pop playlist, and if you have the limited edition console you can also unlock an exclusive C-3PO Dance Mode.

The line-up includes well-known casual games like Angry Birds along with Reckless Racing and Toy Soldiers. No word from the source as to whether the titles will be paid or free, though Microsoft has said before that, during the pre-official launch later this year, only free apps will be supported in the Windows Store.

The preview Windows Store – and the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 – are expected to be released later this month. Recent leaks suggest Microsoft has killed off the Start button, though that won’t be confirmed until the preview arrives.

Of course, there’s more to Microsoft’s gaming strategy than Solitaire. The company has previously said that it plans to integrate Xbox LIVE into the new PC OS, just as it has with Xbox 360 and Windows Phone. That opens the door to cross-platform challenges and more.

• Hydro Thunder
• Toy Soldiers
• Reckless Racing
• Angry Birds
• Ilomilo
• Rocket Riot
• Full House Poker
• Tentacles
• Crash Course
• Ms Splosion Man
• Wordament

Line art shows a tablet style controller that has some kind connectivity with a sensor on top of the TV. The set-top sensor connects to the console, which looks very much like the current Nintendo Wii in the artwork. Making things even odder, one of the pictures with the patent shows what appears to be the gamer turned into a robot with a laser gun in the tablet controller screen. The smart thing would be to use the PS Vita rather than some other controller, which is what this patent appears to be showing.

Engadget reports that patent text outlines a “position-dependent gaming, 3-D controller, and handheld as a remote,” that acts like an “input for video game.”" I really don’t want to make this; it is very odd. I am not surprised Sony is trying to go this route; it doesn’t want to be left out on a new and hot feature that Nintendo will be using. What do you think? This could be part of that Sony four screen strategy.

[via Engadget]

The Xbox comparisons are hard to avoid. Just like Microsoft’s console, the X51 delivers a combination of slick matte- and gloss-finish plastic along with a decidedly stylized aesthetic that some will find appealing and others may consider simply over the top. Alienware goes the whole hog with illumination, too, slapping LEDs behind the fascia logo and the side grilles. These can be set to custom colors, or to change according to the current Windows app or even depending on the current gameplay. If you want the lighting to glow an ominous red when you’re under attack, you can have it.

Although Alienware has played up the small footprint of the X51, it’s worth remembering that these things are relative to the company’s humongous regular desktops. The X51 is no nettop, in fact it’s a fairly hefty unit, equal certainly to an Xbox 360. That allows it to accommodate not only an optical drive – Dell will outfit it with a DVD burner or a Blu-ray – but a discrete graphics card, your choice of NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 545 1GB graphics or GeForce GTX 555 1GB.

If you’re thinking of the Alienware X51 as a compact alternative to an HTPC set-top box, however, prepare to be surprised. Packing gaming-level processing power into a PC requires some space, and though Dell’s minimum specification starts out with an Intel Core i3 processor, it’s no surprise that the company expects the Core i5 and i7 options to be more popular.

In short, this is quite the compromise in comparison to your regular, dedicated console. The Alienware X51 is roughly akin to the 360 in size, but it kicks off at around twice the price and, arguably, is capable of twice as much functionality. That power and flexibility comes with a price tag to match, and you lose the plug-and-play ease of a dedicated console. Look out for the full Alienware X51 review very soon.

The rebranding to Sony Entertainment Network will be applied to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in upcoming software updates, but it will not affect the PSP at this time. This change is part of Sony’s efforts to associate the service with the company’s broader entertainment services, including Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited.

The discontinued use of the PlayStation Network name may help sweep away the bad memories of last year’s security breach and month-long outage. The company reported a massive loss and recently appointed new CEO Kaz Hirai. Unifying its services appears to be part of the company’s strategy to turn things around.

[via VentureBeat]

In this game created by some of the most notable names in gaming and comic book fantasy you’ll be not only diving into a story so thick it’d take you days and days upon days to read the entire text included in the game without even playing. Inside you’ll find yourself so deep in the world of Amalur that you’ll often forget that the objective includes some of the most action-packed sequences since Skyrim. And let’s face it: this game will be compared to Skyrim one way or another, so it’d better stand up strong right up unto it!

And it shall, as Rolston lead design teams behind Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as well as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, these both coming right behind the Skyrim masterpiece of 2011. The only thing you’ll not be selecting is the shape of your face, as Reckoning cuts a bit more to the chase than Skyrim does, with basic faces, hair, and a few trinkets around you before you jump right in. And jump right UP you shall, as you begin this game in a pile of corpses, you yourself having been dead before the game began.

This story is no ordinary monster, even though your quest is indeed to destroy all evil and save the future of the world you’re on. As you advance, you choose your skills and shape your person, costume and epic weapons included. Make this your next deep dive after you’ve completed your months of food and water-less nights of Skyrim – soon!

When you download this game, you’ll find that in its completely free form, you’ll be given Hawaii as a map to fly around in. When you’re connected with Games for Windows Live, you get extra features. You can also get extra features by downloading them via Microsoft’s online store, this falling right in line with our most awesome futuristic gaming model born of this mobile revolution we’re in: free to play and in-game upgrade. Freemium is another name for this model, and Microsoft will be more than willing to tease you with the most awesome flying around with a promise of more on the way.

So clear the end of your February calendar out because you’ll be doing two things: first, playing Microsoft Flight, then second: following SlashGear’s Mobile World Congress 2012 coverage. You know you’ll love both, they’re both free! Have a peek above at a trailer for the newest installment in what’s up until now been called Flight Simulator X, then head to our portal for the rest. You can follow us all through Spain while you’re flying in Hawaii via our tag [MWC 2012] – seeya then!

[via Major Nelson]

My issues with motion gaming have prompted me to turn my back on the Wii. In fact, I haven’t even seen my Wii in well over a year, since it’s been sitting in my closet with the rest of the obsolete and boring consoles I’ve bought over the years.

[Image credit: Cha già José]

Sony’s PlayStation Move is similarly useless to me. The wands add no value to my gaming experience and as far as I’m concerned, should be relegated to the junk heap in the PlayStation 4.

And now, we move to the Kinect. I’ve said here before that while the Kinect comes with a really cool technology, I’m not a fan of the peripheral. I do, however, acknowledge — like the Wii — that there are some people out there that see some value in a product like the Kinect.

But what saddens me is that Microsoft’s motion-gaming peripheral is, well, the next big thing in gaming.

Microsoft is doubling down on the Kinect. A software development kit that allows PC software developers to take advantage of the device’s technology is in the wild, and there is a very good chance that it might also become the go-to device for laptops.

In the beginning, that might mean PC gaming will be enhanced, but I can also see the device becoming a useful accessory for those developing other programs across a wide array of industries, including medical, manufacturing, and retail.

But it’s that gaming element that keeps holding me up.

According to the latest rumors, it’s possible Microsoft will launch the Xbox 720 with a Kinect camera built into the console. What’s more, there is some speculation that Sony might try to find a way to come close to matching the Kinect’s controller-less functionality.

Add that to the fact that the Kinect is selling exceedingly well and it quickly becomes clear that it could very well be Microsoft’s ticket to gaming dominance in the coming years.

I hate to say it, but the Microsoft Kinect is the next big thing in gaming. It’s already changed how console makers think, and it’s well on its way to transforming Windows PCs. But it’s the fact that it might play an even greater role in the next generation that’s enough to make me cringe.

Just when I hoped you would be out of my life, Kinect, you’ve found a way to become a part of it for the next several years.

Maybe it’s a good thing I own a Mac, eh?

I’d also like to point out that I’ve seen obese kids in PE class, but that doesn’t mean PE class causes obesity. Fourkiller is not calling for a ban on violent video games or any other sort of videogame in Oklahoma. What he is calling for is a tax on “violent” video games, which is proposed under HB 2696. The Representative wants to see an excise tax of 1% on all violent video games that carry a rating of teen, mature, or adult only.

Fourkiller wants the money collected via the tax to go toward the Oklahoma Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund to fight obesity and some of the tax income to go to the Bullying Prevention Revolving Fund. Fourkiller claims that he is not targeting the videogame industry. However, he has not proposed a tax on violent movies or TV shows.

[via kfor]

For those of you reading this in the future, this particular down-time took place on the 2nd of February, 2012. This maintenance period has for the most part left online play unaffected, while those who had signed into their accounts before 6 AM PST today should have been able to stay logged in throughout the down time. The services you know and love that are down and will remain down through the night will be the PlayStation Store via the PlayStation 3 and PSP, and Media Go.

In addition, PlayStation HomeMusic Unlimited and Video Unlimited services are unavailable until tomorrow. Account Management and Account Registration are also being said to be down while all the good stuff stays active as it should be. The good stuff includes gamers abilities to collect in-game trophies – each of these trophies then set to upload to users accounts when maintenance ends. Meanwhile you could also just play some offline games or break out the old Ball in a cup attached with a string and have a little old-timey fun then too. It’s only one day!

A reminder to all: the place where Sony announces down-times in advance is over at the PlayStation blog – or you could just stick around SlashGear where you love to get your PlayStation news and we’ll let you know both in advance and day-of like we always do. Cheers!

The Call of Duty Elite Drop 1: Liberation will take place in a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC. It features a vast landscape great for long-range sniper and LMG kills with mounted turrets on each end of the map. Elite Drop 2: Piazza takes place in a seaside village where blind corners and complex branching pathways means danger lurks at every turn and ensures plenty of close-quarter combat.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3′s content season is co-developed by Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software. The new maps have already been released for the Xbox 360 last month due to an exclusivity deal between Activision and Microsoft. Hence, new DLC content for Call of Duty will always be available first for Premium Members on Xbox 360, but Premium Members on PS3 will also get the content ahead of non-premium members on the PS3.

[via Gamasutra]

The first thing you should know here is that Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a time-traveling game with plotlines that fit in several places after the original XIII. There’s one timeline 700 years into the future, one 100 years into the future, and one just 10 years into the future, each of them after XIII. Reviewers seem to have mixed feelings on this installment of the game for a variety of reasons, but one thing seems clear: everyone who has reviewed this game has played several Final Fantasy games before.

“Final Fantasy XIII-2 feels less like a standalone sequel than a concerted effort to bring back fans disappointed by the last game. Somewhere within the bowels of Square Enix, there’s a memo that details every major criticism of XIII. The sequel addresses enough of those points to make it feel different from FFXIII, but without making the game as a whole all that much better.” – Garrett Martin of Ars Technica

The story for this game, to be fair, will give any new person to the series quite a run for their money – but like every single Final Fantasy game before, this is part of the whole project. Final Fantasy games are sort of like chapters in a book series – not necessarily a series that’s meant to go together, but one told many times in the same sort of tenor. The greatest part of this series is still in-tact here as well: the combat system.

“I found “XIII-2″ more absorbing than its predecessor, in part because I’ve gotten used to its “paradigm”-based combat. Instead of controlling all three characters in your party, you control just one — though you can switch the paradigms used by the other two so they concentrate on physical attacks, magic or defense. Boss battles force you to constantly adjust your paradigms, so while the fights are fast-paced, they require strategy.” – Lou Kesten from AP for ABC News

So what this game really adds up to is a rattlingly difficult to follow storyline littered with entertaining bits of combat and fabulous graphics. There are loads of entertaining cinematic segments, the whole game feels good to play, but in the end it comes up short – unless you compare it directly to its predecessor.

“Weirdly enough, on a piece by piece basis Final Fantasy XIII-2 manages to one-up itself in almost every department. At the same time, you get the distinct feeling that Square Enix has lost its way with the franchise, especially in the story telling department. The game is littered with moments throughout that just don’t add up. For a game that starts out as strong as Final Fantasy XIII-2 ,with Lightning battling through Valhalla, it immediately squashes all hopes of a exciting journey by beginning to loosely explain what is transpiring, and what your ultimate goals of the game are to be.” – Bill Hess of Attack of the Fanboy

You’ll be able to pick up Final Fantasy XIII-2 for your Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for the cool price of $59.99 from all great places sweet games are sold. If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, this game is of course not to be missed – unless you’d rather spend the cash on several iterations of the game from years past. Never played Final Fantasy VII? Maybe a quick dash to the store and $10 later you’ll have the greatest RPG experience of your life in your hands instead!

BONUS: You can also download the demo direct from your Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 today – go grab it and test away!

Hirai says that corporate structure is what has kept Sony from capitalizing on product innovations, and in fact has kept the company trapped in the past. “We really need to buckle down and be realistic,” he told the newspaper. “I don’t think everybody is on board, but I think people are coming around to the idea.”

To deliver on that, Hirai will use the same strategy that worked so well in Sony’s gaming division. The exec turned the PlayStation around from $2bn losses to profit in just four years, though mediocre sales of the PS3 had a detrimental effect on fiscal Q3 2011 results.

“I thought turning around the PlayStation business was going to be the toughest challenge of my career, but I guess not. It’s one issue after another. I feel like ‘Holy s—, now what?” Kazuo Hirai, CEO and President, Sony

“User experience” not just solid hardware is the way forward for Sony, the new CEO believes. His predecessor, Howard Stringer – who will take position as chair of the Sony board later this year – set out plans for a “four screen” strategy last year, integrating TV, PC, tablet and smartphone in an overall ecosystem; however, that means Hirai has to persuade would-be customers to buy not just one Sony device, but four of them.

“We can’t just continue to be a great purveyor of hardware products,” Hirai concludes, “even though some people expect us to do that.”

The good news is Sony claims that most online play will be unaffected. Sony also notes that users who are already signed into their account on the PlayStation Network before the maintenance starts should be able to stay signed into their accounts. However, a number of services will be unavailable for the entire length of maintenance. The services that will be unavailable during maintenance includes the PlayStation Store via the PS3, PSP, and Media Go.

PlayStation Network users will also be unable to access account management and account registration features. PlayStation HomeMusic Unlimited and Video Unlimited services will also be unavailable during maintenance. It is worth noting that during the maintenance, gamers will be able to collect in game trophies and the trophies will be updated to their account when maintenance ends.

[via Blog.US.PlayStation.com]

Meanwhile, the S-LCD business – Sony’s share of which has now been sold off to partner Samsung – contributed to a loss despite Samsung paying for Sony’s half, because the company’s shares went cheaply when they were sold last month. Repairs after the flooding in Thailand cost $114m, though much of that was covered by insurance.

Profit from LCD televisions declined, thanks to lower retail prices that didn’t cover Sony’s own costs, while the company’s game business struggled to make back what Sony had spent on marketing to promote the PlayStation Network. Lower sales of the PS3 itself didn’t help either.

The ray of hope is Sony’s movie business, which saw a 7.7-percent increase year-on-year with sales of $2.1bn. Still, Sony predicts a larger than expected loss for its full 2011 fiscal year, with Hirai to focus on boosting its core businesses of cameras and games, increase investment into mobile and restructure the TV business, in addition to ditching the more unprofitable areas the firm has found itself in.