(Credit:
Liliputing)
Most Netbooks are unable to render high-definition videos, not to mention run 3D games. In fact, the standard Intel Atom processor and integrated graphics chipset can barely handle Flash-heavy Web sites.
However, it's beginning to seem like the limitation is not on the hardware, but the drivers. Martin Mohring, from the Linux Foundation, was at a Mobile Dev Camp event in Germany. There, he showed an MSI Wind U115 with an Atom Z530 1.6GHz/Intel GMA 500 combo not only playing an HD video clip, but also running Quake III at about 35fps. The secret? This Netbook is using Moblin Linux, which has optimized drivers to push the graphics performance to another level.
If this gets you all excited, you can download a copy of Moblin Linux here and let us know your experience. But while waiting for the download, check out some videos posted by UMPC Portal and Netbook News.de after the jump.
... Read moreNeuroscientists at Princeton University created a new way to study the neurons of the classic mouse-in-a-maze: strap it to a suspended ball and have it run through a virtual maze. That first virtual maze? Derived from a Quake 2 level.
Apparently it's difficult to control and study the neurons of a mouse when it's physically moving, and this method makes that easier. The ball is suspended on a jet of air, and the mouse is strapped in place with a collar on top of it (like a giant trackball, sort of) while running on a spherical treadmill.
Given that I don't understand psychology at all, or even totally know what a neuron is, I'm going to go ahead and assume this is an elaborate ruse to get a mouse to play Quake 2. The researchers detail their findings in the latest issue of the journal Nature. Well played, scientists.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
A bit of consolidation going on in the video game biz today, as ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3), is acquiring id Software, developer of the classic Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein franchises.
While responsible for some of the most important PC games of all time (and essentially creating the first-person shooter with 1992's Wolfenstein 3D), iD has struggled in recent years to find the same relevance among console gamers and develop new properties. The company has also needed to form a more mutually beneficial relationship with a publisher (which is why there are very few marquee standalone game developers today -- most are owned by, or have exclusive deals with, a single publisher).
Good news for iD fans is that co-founder John Carmack (also co-creator of games such as Doom and Quake) is along for the ride, signing a long-term employment contract, according to a press release about the deal. In it, Carmack says, "This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward...We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am."
A handful of iD projects already in development, including a new Wolfenstein game, will be published by Activision and EA, but Bethesda would publish any new sequels.
(Credit:
iD Software)
Set the wayback machine for 1999/2000, and you'll find a lot of Gen-X office workers doing the same thing I was back then--wasting hour upon hour of company time playing "Quake III" (or "Unreal Tournament II") with my office mates. (At least in my case, there were extenuating circumstances: I was covering the video game beat at pop-culture Web site UGO.com at the time).
In the years since then, first-person shooters have come to require the kind of dedicated hardware that virtually no office workers have, effectively eliminating the daily fragfest that was so common during the original dot-com boom. Instead, browser-based casual games such as "Puzzle Quest" and "Peggle" have taken over as workplace time killers (and have built a huge new market in the process).
In an effort to bridge the gap between "casual" and "serious" gaming, the company behind "Quake" (and "Doom" before that), Id Software, is readying a revamp of the classic "Quake III" experience, called "Quake Live." Id just completed an invite-only closed beta round test for "Quake Live" and is set to open its servers to a broader public beta test for the game, starting Tuesday.
In the intervening years, PCs have gotten fast enough, and broadband connections common enough, that the game can be cast as a browser-based experience, played by visiting Quakelive.com and signing up for a free account. With its forgiving hardware requirements and pick-up-and-play style, it seems made for laptops and low-power office PCs.
(Credit:
Id Software)
Having played several rounds of the beta version of "Quake Live," we can say the ad-supported game is a fairly faithful adaptation of "Quake III," at least as far as our decade-old memories serve, and has all the classic maps from the game, including our favorite, The Longest Yard (set on a series of floating platforms).
The feel is definitely retro, with none of the strategic elements, such as cover fire or stealth, that have defined the last few generations of shooters. Instead the action is fast-paced and kinetic, with players running around at breakneck speeds, bunny-hopping along the way to avoid getting shot.
With Kelly and Lindsey both out Friday, we recruit Brian Tong to help us with the show. You know what that means, right? For the first time in Gadgettes history, the guys outnumber the ladies!
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EPISODE 117 |
PS3 Home - played it more last night…SUCKS
Excessive cuteness, meet excessive violence (circa 1996)
Project Aiko: The sexy virgin robot built to serve man
The bracelet that can help you swing across a canyon
HTX Helmet lets you feel headshots while you play video games
Shots Gun Drink Dispenser, for trigger-happy barkeeps
... Read more
Chumby, the future of gamin'? No, but a cool port.
(Credit: Bunnie Studios)From the "unlikely, but not really unlikely" (especially given the open-source nature of the platform) section of geeky tech comes news that a developer at Chumby has fully ported Quake to the cuddly little system.
The developer posted details of how he did it on the Chumby dev forums. He's even working on getting it networked. Can you imagine a retro LAN party of Quake with everyone using Chumbys? Well I can't, but it would make for an interesting, albeit frustrating, experience--for about 30 minutes until everyone moved to Call of Duty 4.
Bunnie Studios posted a short video of the game in action. You use the accelerometer to move, squeeze the Chumby to shoot, tap the screen to jump. Even though Quake is a 12-year-old game now (geez, I'm old!), I'm still impressed they got it to run so well on a device that it obviously wasn't meant for.
id didn't show us anything new about Quake Wars, but it still looks great.
(Credit: Activision)We didn't learn anything that isn't already public about id Software's forthcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and it wasn't really showing off its next-gen id Tech 5 graphics engine to journalists. We made good use of our meeting, though, by getting the shooter pioneers to open up about Microsoft's Games for Windows Live platform.
Quake Wars won't incorporate a Games for Windows Live element, so all of the voice chat and player matching will go through id's own in-game software. It cited the fact that Vista came out three years or so into the game's development as one reason, it wouldn't make sense to shoehorn Live support in at such a late point. We were told, though, that it can see for future titles that Windows Live support could be a good thing, because by adding the various Live features as supplied by Microsoft, it means the developer doesn't have to spend the time developing those things itself. In other words, like DirectX 10, it will probably be a while before we see broader adoption of Games for Windows Live.
Being firmly ensconced in earthquake country, Crave has always taken a keen interest in anything that claims to provide early warning--or any warning--before The Big One hits.
(Credit:
Tokyomango)
And just our luck, Tokyomango gives us a two-fer that addresses our twin obsessions of quakes and technology with an item titled "Super Multifunctional Earthquake Detecting Device." We're not exactly sure how it's supposed to detect earthquakes, but it apparently has plenty to help keep you occupied while you wait for one, including a radio, an LED flashlight and a charger for multiple devices.
But if you're dubious about this gadget's accuracy (such a cynic), you might want to batten things down just in case.
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