Wolfenstein (PC, PS3, XBox-360, GBA)

Set within a near-fictional, historical WWII setting, players take on the role of the heroic OSA agent BJ Blazkowicz as they are thrust into the unknown and unexpected to battle against combat troops, otherworldly forces, and the dark science created by a supernatural Nazi force hell-bent on world domination. Wolfenstein offers players an action-packed experience as they investigate the powers of a dark parallel dimension, join with resistance forces, and employ an arsenal of conventional and otherworldly weapons in attempts to annihilate the Nazi war machine. Ensuring a deep variety of action, Wolfenstein provides gamers with an assortment of interlinked missions that drive an intense, story-driven combat experience; while the Wolfenstein multiplayer experience continues the world-renowned tradition of class-based team objective gameplay with a full arsenal of conventional and supernatural weapons for addictive online warfare. Read more..

Nvidia GeForce 9600GT Review

This is a pretty good time for PC gamers, especially when it comes to graphics cards. With two impressive products like the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon HD 3870, gamers can see some solid performance in high-end DX9 games and playable performance in DX10 games without spending a fortune. In fact, it would only cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $250.
But $200 is somewhat of a "hard ceiling" for many PC owners. Sure they want to play some games, and they want them to look good and run well. But they don't have 24-inch widescreen monitors, they don't have superfast quad-core processors, and they can't yet justify spending more than $200 for a graphics card. The sub-$200 market is big, and the GeForce 8600-based products simply weren't cutting it anymore—not with the truly excellent Radeon HD 3850 coming in at well under $200 and blowing away the competition in that price range.
Finally we have Nvidia's answer, the GeForce 9600 GT. Based on the G94 chip, it is quite similar to the G92-based GeForce 8800 GT. The most striking difference is the reduction in shader units comes down to 64. But with aggressive clock speeds and a 256-bit memory interface, it is otherwise a very robust card.
Today we review EVGA's "SSC" version of the GeForce 9600 GT, a factory-overclocked version that should give gamers on a budget a reason to smile. Read More

Nvidia GeForce 9500GT Review

NVIDIA’s new GeForce 9500 GT is the company’s latest weapon in its arsenal of sub-7000 PKR graphics cards but don’t let the relatively low price fool you. Of course the card won’t offer the same level of 3D performance as current high-end, more expensive products. However, its feature set is comparable to just about anything else on the market. And its power consumption is nice and low as well. Thanks to extremely consistent performance across our battery of benchmarks, it is very easy to summarize the new GeForce 9500 GT’s capabilities. The GeForce 9500 GT is measurably faster than the Radeon HD 3650 NVIDIA is targeting with this release, and it performs about on-par with the GeForce 8600 GTS, which debuted at a much higher price point. The GeForce 9500 GT, however, is no match for the somewhat more expensive GeForce 9600 GT or Radeon HD 3850… If street prices settle at or below the 7000 PKR range, the GeForce 9500 GT should be a rather compelling product for mainstream consumers. This is the Best Gmaing Card for Low Budget Gamers. Below is a 3DMark 06 OverAll Score for this card

After viewing these scores i would go for ATI Radeon HD 3850 as it is available in the same price as that of Nvidia's 9500 GT. Read more for this gaming PC Peripheral.

PC vs CONSOLE GAMING

We always have a question mummering in our minds, if the PC can compete with new generation gaming consoles. Here is my opinion: You are well, probably not looking at this from the PC angle. This may go on for a little bit but it covers a lot of good ranting grounds in regards to video games, and if you start to read it, then finish it or you won't get what I'm trying to say. Most assuredly PC gaming will never die, especially when the consoles are just like stockcar PC's. My PC is very close to the specs of the PS3. The differences are small such as: I have Two gig of RAM, the PS3 has some ware around 256, though the new architecture is nice, it still isn't that much, especially for the little things like bodies and shell casings on the ground. Also the CPU clocks faster than mine and the CELL CPU is a nice piece of technology for size and price, but the AMD FX-55 even at 2.6 GHz still owns it with its 1.5 MB cache, which is the thing that counts the most in games; though it doesn't own it by much. My 6800 ultra is apparently less so than the PS3's but with the new 6800 ultra that has 512 MB of DDR3 RAM, that will more than make up for the slower clock speed, and if I had the money to waist I would get an SLI deck and be about 3-4 times faster than the PlayStation3 GPU. Online doesn't matter much, just who ever your ISP is, but PC's are upgradeable in ways that can help as well. Interface wise is all a matter of opinion, I was raised on the keyboard, so that is my preference, but I more than understand that an equal or more amounts of people were raised on the controller. Even in respects to that, the variety of PC controllers don't sit at the keyboard and mouse, variety from something alike a PlayStation 3 controller to a laser mouse in the model of a gun turning any FPS into a really violent version of duck hunt. Though I have to say the controller looks like I could hit people with it, and maybe toss it and have it come back to me. Games are a real to be decided category but now that consoles like the PlayStation 3 have caught up to the PC, console ports wont make my skin crawl, in fact gaming will be better in general for every one. Though the PlayStation 3 for the first year or so will probably have more releases than the PC as always, the new technology will make porting the game a near one click process, and not the back breaking process that it is to make a good cross console game these days. Never the less, I can only wait on this, but releases for the PC will be very well planed out as they usually are (PC exclusive releases that is). But the PS3 may have a lot of crap games released, either way it will still have the good ones, that will match up to what PC games can do for the most part of the first year or so it is out.Open ends: despite the new consoles internet access and the ability to mod it out on the PC and drop it back into the console, it will never be as open ended as the PC.

Consoles are still regulated by the corporations that birth them; the worst example of this is the Xbox 360. (I'm going to call it the Xbox 2 probably once or twice so don't hold it against me) The new Xbox has an ability to mod out things, then upload them and sell them for a buck or so, they call it "mini transactions" doesn't really matter, introducing mods, tweaks, and or home made maps in the same realm as money is a horrible idea, and knowing Microsoft, it will only expand further into something much worse, and that is bound to affect me as a PC gamer. PC's are a compilation of what tools are provided, and what tools exist that you can find on the net, whatever it takes to mod it, mess with it, or run it better; The consoles will no doubt be regulated to the core as to protect its copy rights, or worse. Longevity is also an issue that PC's own at. By the time the PlayStation 3 is released out in 2006, My PC that is neck and neck to it now, will be leagues ahead of it, either in just additions, or maybe in some new jump in technology.

The PlayStation 3 or any new console will stay as it is and grow older and older and will be rinse repeats till the new consoles come out. Its just too bad the PC games get consolitus towards the end of a consoles life, though there are a few games out there in this twilight period (for the Xbox and PS 2 this was started about 2 years ago until now where PC gamers feel the terrible effects at its worse of the out of date console games).Game concepts, PC games will have the real time strategy to boast over the consoles, just as consoles will have fighting games over the PC. RPG's are at a crossroads, mutually Morrowind and for the new consoles Oblivion (Xbox 360 maybe but PlayStation 3 is in the picture because Microsoft wont bend to Bethesda's needs in order to port it to the Xbox Live system since it is released in chunks as they finish them); any how, Oblivion is sort of the part were RPG is good on both the console and the PC in an even way, this is probably due to Bethesda's part in both development and publishing, giving it an unbiased view over PC or console, no need to make it any different when it doesn't have to be. Another aspect of concepts is that of just the game, this is just a common thing since it is real all up to the developer and as long as that developer isn't an Ubisoft related one, the game is the same for all the systems it is released on, unless hardware is an issue.

In conclusion, the PC isn't disappearing, its getting better, It may cost a lot to compete on the front lines for the first year or two with the consoles, but this isn't much if you are already a PC gamer though in the end it is a lot more money than the consoles are. You get what you pay for though and for those whose life is entrenched in video games, or for those who want the best of the best experience, the PC is still and will always be the way to go. But in defense of the consoles, for those who aren't 3,000 dollars into video games, and want a good premium yet depreciative gaming experience, then by all means go to the consoles, the important thing is that you are frying your brain with mind numbing violence.

The problems come when you hurt the other systems out of pure bullsh-t like what Microsoft has been doing with both its Windows XP monopoly hurting gaming performance, to releasing certain games in a series on the PC and not the sequel or so on. Let's not even talk about the screwing they pulled on the PS2. I understand the world of economics, and I also know that alienating people isn't the way to get them to comply. Attempting to force someone into a situation to buy a product by handicapping others ability to compete is a poor practice, and the Oil companies are finding this out, so will Microsoft hopefully with the PlayStation 3's massive upshot past it. If people would just make their system a better product in order to get sales instead of pulling legal bs on the competitors ability to compete or just spreading crap around about the opfor.

Fortunately the PC isn't a competitor company which puts us out of the way, but that also makes people think we don't exist, or where this whole thing started, The PC market is huge, and if you make a game worth buying for us it will fly off the shelves, look at Half-Life 2 (despite in store copies having bugs). Also its good to see games like Far Cry sell what they deserve now, Doom3, Raven-shield, BFV and BF 1942, Ghost Recon, COD, Morrowind, Max Payne; PC copies all sold in the millions of each of these games, even though some have console ports still. The PC market is no midget; you just have to have something worth money (unlike PARIAH). With this new generation of games coming out, suddenly something is worth money, and PC copies will sell, as well as will the console ones, and the corporations will make the maximum profit since they are expanding all potentials.It breaks down into if the game is good. Good games will get good reviews, and that will cause people to want to buy it. Not cause its a PlayStation 3 game or a PC game, cause it doesn't suck, and they will by it for what ever suits them best, so make your console suitable (which Sony defiantly has) and make products.

PC's aren't in the race because the consoles have something over them, they aren't even in the same league (imagine consoles are NASCAR and PC's are Formula 1 racers. The end result is that the drivers are still crazy mother f----s that love driving fast as hell. PC and consoles are the same only with video games. The only difference that 2009 will bring is that the stockcars will be a hell of a lot better than they were last year, it still doesn't stop the F1 racing or replace it, and it never will. :)

F.E.A.R. 2 PROJECT ORIGIN

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, ships to retail stores in North America today for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and Games for Windows. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the sequel to F.E.A.R., the critically acclaimed supernatural first-person shooter, and ushers in a new dimension of paranormal horror, cinematic combat and highly kinetic action.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a blend of advanced visceral combat mixed with seamless game pacing set inside a sinister and paranormal universe that begins shortly before the ending of F.E.A.R. A Special Forces squad is on a routine mission when the city of Auburn is rocked by a supernatural explosion. Alma, a girl with immense power and a thirst for revenge, has unleashed her wrath upon the city and thrown it into chaos. Tension builds as the squad must combat enemy forces and the supernatural as they struggle to find a way to stop Alma and uncover the mysterious forces arrayed against them before it’s too late.
As players move throughout the smoldering remains of Auburn in search of Alma, they must investigate the crumbling remains of schools, hospitals and alleyways as they are stalked by otherworldly creatures and enemies. Gamers will need to use everything at their disposal, including all-new weapons and superhuman abilities, to fight the supernatural forces arrayed against them and keep the entire city from succumbing to Alma.

In addition to a gripping single-player campaign, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin supports up to 16 players for action-packed multiplayer match-ups. Multiplayer options include nine maps, four modes and a powerful mix of weapons, grenades and high tech machinery, including the Elite Powered Armor (EPA) mech suits that players can take control of in both multiplayer and single-player action.

F.E.A.R. Platinum

F.E.A.R. Platinum combines the complete F.E.A.R. franchise in to one package. Enjoy F.E.A.R. the Director’s Edition, F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point, and the all new F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate together in one box! FEAR – You are an elite soldier trained to deal with unusual situations other can’t even imagine. Called in to confront a murderous force with paranormal abilities, you must contain a crisis spiraling quickly out of control. Discover the true meaning of F.E.A.R. in this unique fusion of stylized FPS combat and supernatural suspense. FEAR Extraction Point – Once the hunter, now the hunted your new mission is simple… escape. The Replicas are no longer your only nemeses, as powerful supernatural entities are wreaking havoc on everything and anything that crosses their path. You are trapped in a desolate city and your road to freedom hinges on the ability to destroy all that gets in your way. The only question that remains is…can you reach the Extraction Point. FEAR Perseus Mandate - Having lost contact with an earlier squad, F.E.A.R. sends in another team in an attempt to secure the situation and investigate. Once on the ground your team quickly realizes that there is another group also on the loose, the Nightcrawlers. The Nightcrawlers are ransacking the Armacham facilities letting nothing stand in their way as they try to gain access to something called the Perseus Project. Follow this new threat through the bowels of the Armacham facility, and find that the Nightcrawlers are not just after information, they are after something else – It is up to you to uncover the mystery that surrounds Armacham and what the Nightcrawlers want with the Perseus Project. Follow this new threat through the bowels of the Armacham facility, and find that the Nightcrawlers are not just after information, they are after something else – It is up to you to uncover the mystery that surrounds Armacham and what the Nightcrawlers want with the Perseus Project.

FAR CRY (PC)

You are Jack Carver, a former Ocean Patrol officer who currently spends his day transporting tourists and small cargo around the South Pacific. One day, you meet an attractive journalist who hires you to escort her around some WWII-era Japanese ship wreckage on an uncharted island in Micronesia. However, before too long, mercenaries destroy your ship and your escort disappears. Therefore, you set about on a quest to rescue her from her captors and find out what’s really happening on this mysterious island.
The first thing you’ll notice about Far Cry is the sheer enormity of the world in which you’re thrown. The island is huge, and the draw distances (measuring in at more than a kilometer) allow you to see incredibly far at any given time. Use your binoculars and you’ll be able to pick out enemies, say, standing along a beach carrying on in conversation about half a mile away. Approach an enemy encampment and you’ll see mercenaries manning mounted machine guns, target practicing and all kinds of things that add to the level of realism. Helicopters will occasionally fly overhead, patrol boats will zoom by and jeeps will drive along paths, adding to the effect that this island is constantly active. Read more about this game.