Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Black Box Genre: RacingRelease Date: November
Need for Speed Carbon, is no different.From what EA tells us (and we'll trust them as our rusty Ford Pintos are not exactly ready for competition), street racing has essentially divided into two distinct factions. Being that it's highly illegal, some street racers have shifted to sanctioned races, competitions set up legally on safe tracks. Some racers, however, have taken their sport outside city walls, continuing to defy the law but pushing the boundaries of what any sane person would consider safe even further than before.
This leads us to the newest and biggest mode in Need for Speed Carbon, Canyon Duels. Based on points rather than finishing the race first, Canyon Duels pit two cars against each other in two rounds, with one car chasing the other in the first, and then reversing it for the second. You'll always begin as the follow car in NFS Carbon, whereby you'll earn points for keeping up with your opponent. The closer you are, the quicker you'll earn points. For the second leg, your opponent will follow you and attempt to chip away at the points you've just earned. Finish in the positive and you'll take home a medal, but finish in the negative and you'll go home empty handed (and maybe on foot).The most interesting part about this is that it's possible to earn an instant victory (or loss, as the case may be). If the following car passes the lead car and manages to stay ahead for 10 seconds, the race is over. Likewise, if the lead car manages to pull way ahead of the following car, the latter of the two is going home. And last but certainly not least, if you happen to take a turn too late and break through the guardrail, the only thing you'll earn is a heaping pile of metal at the bottom of the canyon.This stressed the main aspect of Canyon Duels to us: speed versus danger. Though the track we were able to try didn't have any very sharp turns, it was almost never straight, meaning that we were always toying with sliding into the mountain or off the edge of the cliff. In and of itself, the course isn't difficult to navigate, but when you're trying to stay either out in front or just behind the other racer, you'll wind up pushing your car farther than you should more often than not. This was the coolest part about this race - managing speed against safety.
Speaking of managing, this brings us to Carbon's crew aspects. While you'll be racing one-on-one in Canyon Duels, those only make for about 25% of the races in Carbon, with the majority of the game taking place in its open-world environment. This is where the bulk of the story will take place and it's here that you'll build up your own crew. Details are a little scarce on exactly how you'll gain members, how you'll manage them and so forth, but we do know that you'll be able to choose who joins your racing team and each member will be able to increase their skills as the game progresses.Each member has two of six skills, one off the track and one on. For racing, a crew member will be classified as a Blocker, Scout or Drafter. During a race you'll be able to tell your teammate to perform their ability a few times per race (as to not overdo it) and help you get ahead. They're able to win races for you, but you're the main focus so they're present more for support and will drop back to help you out even if it means losing a few positions.
Publisher : Microsoft Games StudiosDeveloper: Ensemble Studios Genre : Real-time StrategyRelease Date : octomber
The third and last WarChief’s civilization was featured recently on the front page of IGN. The Aztecs are a dilemma for me. They are a strong economic civ, which I usually prefer, and they have maybe the coolest looking units and architecture in the game. But because they have foot soldiers only and no cavalry or artillery, I find them the most difficult to play. Playing the Aztecs well requires being able to first recognize quickly on screen the different types of Aztec units and what they do well, and then organize and employ them to take advantage of their strengths. It will be interesting to see how top players do with them after the game is published.
Warchiefs looks like it will breathe some new life into Age of Empires III by offering a different perspective. Players will no longer necessarily be battling to conquer the new world. With Native American tribes, they will have a chance to defend it. The Native American tribes look distinct enough from the European factions to stand out and offer some diverse gameplay while preserving feel of AOE3. Where they were pretty much backdrop NPC's in the original game, they are now living and playable. The developers, Ensemble Studios, seem to be on the right track with Warchiefs, and we're looking forward to seeing how the other Native American tribes fit in to the big picture.
Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Digital Illusions CE Genre: Online Shooter Release Date: October
Background: In the year 2142, the Earth is experiancing a new ice age. Thus the battle for land not yet covered by ice, a most belonged thing, starts. In this war, there are two sides: European Union and the Pan Asian Coalition. Both armies are highly equipped with the latest in war technology. Ranging from laser rifles all the way to walking mechs. And both armies are willing to fight for what little land is left. Now, the battle has been changed.
Features: # Titan Mode: Wage epic-scale war to defeat your opponent's Titan, a massive flying warship, controlled by the team's commander. Players must destroy the Titan's shields, board the craft, fight to it's reactor core and detonate it from the inside - all while defending their own Titan. # 64-Players Online (Internet connection required for online play.) # Experience all-out war with Battlefield's legendary multiplayer for up to 64 players. # Real-Time Persistence: To the victor goes the spoils! Equipment, medals and other rewards are awarded ingame and in real time. Choose an unlock and have access to it immediately next time you spawn. The game features five times more unlocks than Battlefield 2. # Customisable Abilities: Gamers can expand their abilities and blend multiple player classes to match their play-style. # Lethal Vehicles: Gamers control menacing Battle Walkers that stalk the land and futuristic gunships that patrol the skies. APC's and high-speed recon vehicles keep the action fast, furious and unpredictable. # High-Tech Weaponry: EMP grenades, sentry guns, smart mines, cloaking devices, and more change the rules of the Battlefield forever. # The world has changed: Fight for survival on the Battlefield of the 22nd century in brand new locations from Minsk to North Africa as the ice presses down from the North.
Min System Requirements: Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater 512 MB of RAM or more 8x or faster CD/DVD drive 2.3 GB free hard drive space or more DirectX 9.0c compatible 128Mb Video card or more
Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Genre: Action Release Date: October 17
Veteran agent Sam Fisher is back. But he's never faced an enemy like this before. To stop a devastating terrorist attack, he must infiltrate a vicious terrorist group and destroy it from within. For the first time ever, experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent.
As you infiltrate a terrorist organization in its American headquarters, you must carefully weigh the consequences of your actions. Kill too many criminals and you'll blow your cover. Hesitate too long and millions will die. Do whatever it takes to complete your mission, but get out alive.
Game Features:
Dual objectives to fulfill: NSA government agents and terrorists will each want you to accomplish opposing tasks at the same time.
Discover the tension of being a double agent: Use actual tactics employed by today's real-life double agents to sabotage the terrorists' plans.
Explore a branching storyline with multiple endings: Your choices have an impact on how the story and game play unfolds.
A world of international espionage: Missions from all over the world, from Asia to Africa to the heart of the US. Experience extreme situations: underwater or in a sandstorm, hiding behind the dust or smoke - and even skydiving.
New authentic gadgets: Master the latest weapons and gadgets used by NSA government agents in addition to black-market terrorist weapons.
PC extras: Two additional alternate single-player missions, nine all-new merged versus and co-op maps, and new underwater and sandstorm combat.
System Requirements:
CPU: P4 3.0Ghz or AMD equivalent Ram: 1Go Videocard: supporting shaders 3.0 (GeForce 6 and 7 series, ATI X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900 series)
One thing I always hate to do is to find the best Antivirus program that will protect my computer. The two best paid versions that I have always heard about are Kaspersky and NOD32. For free software, I always look towards Avast or AVG. Of course, that is what I knew before but it looks like there may be some new people climbing the ladder.
Virus.gr tested quite a few different software companies to see how they would stack up against each other. How did the 147,000+ virus test pan out? Here are the results (the ones in bold are the ones I expected to do good):
1. Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303 - 99.62% 2. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299 - 99.62% 3. F-Secure 2006 version 6.12.90 - 96.86% 4. BitDefender Professional version 9 - 96.63% 5. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 95.98% 6. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 95.82% 7. BitDefender freeware version 8.0.202 - 95.57% 8. BullGuard version 6.1 - 95.57% 9. AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02 - 95.45% 10. Nod32 version 2.51.30 - 95.14% 11. AntiVir Classic version 7.01.01.02 - 94.26% 12. ViruScape 2006 version 1.02.0935.0137 - 93.87% 13. McAfee version 10.0.27 - 93.03% 14. McAfee Enterprise version 8.0.0 - 91.76% 15. F-Prot version 6.0.4.3 beta - 87.88% 16. Avast Professional version 4.7.871 - 87.46% 17. Avast freeware version 4.7.871 - 87.46% 18. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 86.03% 19. Norman version 5.90.23 - 85.65% 20. F-Prot version 3.16f - 85.14% 21. ArcaVir 2006 - 83.44% 22. Norton Professional 2006 - 83.18% 23. AVG Professional version 7.1.405 - 82.82% 24. AVG freeware version 7.1.405 - 82.82% 25. Panda 2007 version 2.00.01 - 82.23% 26. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 81.47% 27. PC-Cillin 2006 version 14.10.1051 - 80.90% 28. VBA32 version 3.11.0 - 79.12% 29. ViRobot Expert version 4.0 - 76.22% 30. UNA version 1.83 - 75.44%
There’s the list and as you can see there are several towards the top that really shocked me. The one I am most happy about is the Active Virus Shield by AOL because it is offered to the public for free. Sure it branded as AOL but underneath it is all Kaspersky and this goes to show it.
I expected NOD32, Avast, and AVG to perform a little better than they did but NOD32 and AVG definitely fought back at the heuristic testing. Heuristic testing is extremely important because that is what gives an Antivirus the ability to catch a virus even it is not in the database. Here are the top 10 from that list:
One thing is for sure and that is Norton needs some work for as much as it costs. So many people rely on Symantec’s software because that is what comes installed on most computers but it obviously won’t provide the protection that is needed.
I fix computers for people all of the time and when I find that their Antivirus subscriptions have expired I normally install Avast. After seeing these tests it definitely makes me ponder using Active Virus Shield by AOL because of the high ranking. Avast does have the Web Shield which stops malicious attacks through your Web browser and I really like that feature. I wonder what is more important, the overall ability to find a virus or being able to block Web attacks?
This is a completely new experience that allows players to fight through the eyes of the boxer from the moment they enter the ring until someone gets KO'd. This is the closest a gamer will ever come to getting into the ring and trading blows with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and the other greats. What makes it so powerful and exciting is that the experience changes as the boxer's health deteriorates. We've captured the sensation and feel of taking punches by implementing a number of different effects such as ear ringing, simulated loss of hearing, and restricted vision that mimics the effects of eye swelling and damage as well as flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur to give players that sense and feeling of getting punched.
In multiplayer mode, the players can take advantage of widescreen and HDTV technology to go head to head in first person split-screen battles. This is really cool because as you inflict damage on your opponent, you can see the damage happening in real time and if you peak over at your opponent's side of the screen you'll be able to see the effects of the damage on his vision.
Hot off the floors of IFA is the V-Mate memory card recorder from SanDisk. This device is really pretty simple and could be really practical for people who love getting their video fix on portable media players like the iPod, PSP, etc. The V-Mate connects to any analog video and audio output. It can then record video directly to a wide variety of portable media formats like SD, MMC, and all of the Sony varieties. It records the video at 640 x 480, therefore being perfect for any of the portable media players out there. The TV-based interface allows you to control and adjust all features of the V-Mate. This device will be available in October for $130 or so.
Name: Mohammed Tabraiz Ali Home: tamilnadu, India About Me: The main objective of this project is build a website which will help farmers from Indian villages too sell their products to different cities. See my complete profile
