Joystiq

Nvidia Shield pre-orders open early (as in, right now)

David Hinkle — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:30:00 EST

Nvidia canceled its forced wait time to pre-order an Nvidia Shield, allowing anyone to commit to the $350 Android handheld as of now. The Nvidia Shield is available for pre-order directly through Nvidia or through select retailers: GameStop, Micro Center, Canada Computers and New Egg.

The Nvidia Shield - previously known as Project Shield - is a handheld gaming console powered by Android. It has a five-inch retinal multi-touch screen capable of 720p, 16GB of internal storage and can stream your PC games, granted you have a GTX 650 GPU or better in your PC.

Nvidia Shield pre-orders open early (as in, right now) originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 May 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia Shield: Joystiq goes hands-on

David Hinkle — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:00 EST

The Nvidia Shield arrives next month for $349.99, and yesterday I got to sit down with the final version of the hardware. The first thing I noticed was the heft: bulkier than a PS Vita, but no less comfortable.

Where the PS Vita sacrificed bigger buttons for smaller form factor, the Nvidia Shield takes a lot of inspiration from the Xbox 360 controller. In fact, the left and right triggers feel identical to the Xbox 360 and, more or less, so does the d-pad. The one big difference from Microsoft's gamepad is the symmetrical analog sticks.

Gallery: NVIDIA Shield (Hands-on)

Continue reading Nvidia Shield: Joystiq goes hands-on

Nvidia Shield: Joystiq goes hands-on originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia Shield launches in June for $350, pre-orders open May 20

David Hinkle — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:00:00 EST

Nvidia's Project Shield - now officially dubbed Nvidia Shield - will launch before the end of June for $349.99, Nvidia has announced. Pre-orders for the Tegra 4-powered Android handheld will open on May 20, through select online and brick-and-mortar retailers: New Egg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers. Those on Nvidia's Project Shield notification list can pre-order starting today.

With the price and pre-order date, Nvidia announced five new games coming to the platform: Broken Age and Costume Quest from Double Fine, Flyhunter: Origins from Steel Wool Games, Skiing Fred from Dedalord Games and Chuck's Challenge from Chuck Sommerville's Niffler, who you may recall of Chip's Challenge fame.

The Nvidia Shield is running Android 4.2.1, sports a 5-inch retinal display capable of 720p and has 16GB of internal storage, expandable through a SD card slot on the back. Other hardware features include a built-in mic and GPS, plus a mini-HDMI out in the back. The Shield is also capable of streaming games from your PC, granted you have a GTX 650 GPU or better in there.

All Nvidia Shields will include two free games: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 and Expendable: Rearmed. We'll have a hands-on video with the final Nvidia Shield and some impressions up soon.

Gallery: NVIDIA Shield (Hands-on)

Nvidia Shield launches in June for $350, pre-orders open May 20 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These PhysX (fluid simulations) are making us thirsty

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:45:00 EST

While we're not exactly prepared to call this stuff water, per se, the fluid dynamics on display in the latest PhysX demonstration are quite impressive nonetheless. In fact, the viscous sloshing is so realistic that we're pretty desperate for a blue-coconut slushie at this point, though preferably one that hasn't washed upon the thighs of a weird humanoid muskrat creature.

This video, as well as the two tucked after the break, were produced to demonstrate the principles outlined in a "Position Based Fluids," a paper recently published by Nvidia employees Miles Macklin and Matthias Muller. In laymen's terms, the duo have devised a less system-intensive way to render "incompressible" liquids, which is the key to ensuring realistic goo.

The document contains numerous formulas and is very concerned with concepts like "tensile instability" and "vorticity conﬁnement and viscosity," but it also features a lot of bunny rabbits, which helped our comprehension levels a great deal.

Continue reading These PhysX (fluid simulations) are making us thirsty

These PhysX (fluid simulations) are making us thirsty originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Tomb Raider gets another patch, Nvidia updates beta drivers

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:45:00 EST

Tomb Raider on PC got another patch this weekend, launched in conjunction with new beta drivers from Nvidia for GeForce GPUs. Download the latest GeForce 314.21 drivers direct from Nvidia.

Since its launch, GeForce Tomb Raider players have seen "major performance and stability issues" trying to play the game at max settings. Complaints include problems with TressFX and tessellation tripping the game up, at least for those with 600-series cards.

There are more Tomb Raider patches incoming from Crystal Dynamics, based on ongoing player feedback.

PSA: Tomb Raider gets another patch, Nvidia updates beta drivers originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tomb Raider PC patch addresses hairy Nvidia issues

Sinan Kubba — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:30:00 EST

Tomb Raider received a PC patch this weekend, with fixes for the Nvidia-associated stability issues high on the agenda. The patch notes mention corrections for "some stability and startup issues on machines that have both Intel and Nvidia graphics hardware" and "some small improvements to TressFX hair rendering." These chief issues led to Nvidia apologizing for the game's unstable performance at maximum settings on its GeForce cards.

Going by the Steam and Eidos forums, the patch does provide significant improvement for some of the stability issues, although by the sounds of it TressFX is still somewhat flaky.

Tomb Raider PC patch addresses hairy Nvidia issues originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia, Crystal Dynamics looking into Tomb Raider PC performance issues

Sinan Kubba — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:45:00 EST

Graphics powerhouse Nvidia is working with developer Crystal Dynamics to address the "major performance and stability issues" occurring with GeForce cards playing Tomb Raider on max settings. A number of users on the Nvidia, Steam, and Tomb Raider forums complained about a range of GeForce-related issues, with common complaints including the game repeatedly crashing to desktop on 600-series cards, and AMD's TressFX hair rendering tech taking a chunky toll on performance.

Following no mention of Tomb Raider in its post on the latest GeForce beta drivers, Nvidia's Andrew Burnes took to the comments to explain the situation, revealing the company only received a final version of the game a few days ahead of launch.

"Unfortunately, Nvidia didn't receive final code until this past weekend which substantially decreased stability, image quality and performance over a build we were previously provided," said Burnes. "We are working closely with Crystal Dynamics to address and resolve all game issues as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we would like to apologize to GeForce users that are not able to have a great experience playing Tomb Raider, as they have come to expect with all of their favorite PC games."

Nvidia, Crystal Dynamics looking into Tomb Raider PC performance issues originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Burn Zombie Burn coming to Project Shield

JC Fletcher — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:59:00 EST

Burn Zombie Burn, a dual-stick shooter released on PS3 and PC, will also be coming to Nvidia's Project Shield, the new Tegra-powered Android handheld device due around Q2.

And this highlights the difficulty with covering weirdo devices like this one. When a game is said to be coming to Project Shield, that could mean a special Android version optimized for the device ... or it could technically mean the PC version can be streamed to the device. Which means that pretty much every PC game could have a similar announcement.

In this case, it's a specialized Android version, although we suppose there would be nothing stopping you from streaming the PC version as well.

Burn Zombie Burn coming to Project Shield originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Shield getting 'Real Boxing' support

Mike Suszek — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:30:00 EST

Vivid Games, publisher of mobile games such as Gyro, is lending its support to Nvidia's Tegra 4-powered Android handheld, Project Shield. Namely, Vivid Games will bring its iOS close-combat game Real Boxing to Android and include support for the system's physical controls.

The boxing game first launched on iOS devices in November 2012, and included a career mode that tasked players with stat-boosting mini-games and over 30 fights for three different championship titles. Vivid Games doesn't have any information (such as a release date) listed for the port, but Project Shield is expected to ship in Q2 of this year.

Project Shield getting 'Real Boxing' support originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia Grid server pumps power into cloud gaming, six partners already lined up

Sinan Kubba — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST

Nvidia unveiled "Grid" at this year's CES, a powerful server built for cloud computing across PCs, smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. As Engadget reports, Grid is catching the attention of cloud gaming companies, with Agawi, Cyber Cloud, G-cluster, Playcast, and Ubitus already signed up to use the technology.

According to Nvidia, a single Grid server can enable up to 24 HD quality game streams. At CES Nvidia showcased the Grid gaming system, which incorporates 20 Grid servers into a single rack. Nvidia says the rack is capable of producing 36 times the amount of HD-quality game streams as 'first-generation cloud gaming systems.'

As our friends at Engadget note, that gaming rack of 20 Grid servers pumps out around 200 teraflops worth of operations, which equates to what around 700 Xbox 360s can do. That's a whole lot of Master Chiefs running themselves to death on hamster wheels.

Nvidia Grid server pumps power into cloud gaming, six partners already lined up originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia unveils Android gaming handheld powered by 'world's fastest mobile processor'

Sinan Kubba — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST

Graphics powerhouse Nvidia is entering the portable gaming market with Project Shield, an Android handheld fitted with the company's newly unveiled quad-core Tegra 4 mobile processor. Shield, showcased by Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang at this year's CES, resembles a PS3 or Xbox 360 twin-stick controller but attached to a flip-top 5-inch 'retinal display' multitouch screen with 1280x720 HD resolution at 294 dpi. The Tegra 4 chip it contains, which Nvidia claims is the world's fastest mobile processor, offers effectively six times greater visual output than its Tegra 3 predecessor, as found in Microsoft Surface tablets. Nvidia tells our friends at Engadget that the device is expected to ship in Q2 of this year. One crucial factor which remains undisclosed is the price.

Shield also has 38 watt hours of batteries, which translates into 5 to 10 hours of gameplay or 24 hours of HD video, and a bass reflex audio system with a greater signal-to-noise ratio than the iPhone 5. In addition to the standard audio jack, Shield has a microSD slot, a micro USB port, and an HDMI port that Huang demonstrated with an LG 4K resolution HDTV. Shield's 'console-grade' analog sticks are joined by a d-pad and a standard quartet of buttons, as well as triggers and bumpers.

Huang also demonstrated a few games from Nvidia's Tegrazone store being played on the device, followed by a brief run of mega-mech battling in Hawken. Next, Huang detailed how Shield can wirelessly stream from a PC across a local network to Shield, using this to play Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Assassin's Creed 3 on the handheld. As Engadget reports, there was perceivably very little lag. The demo also showed Shield accessing Steam on the PC, with Huang underling the ease with which Big Picture Mode can be used via Shield to bring Steam games to HDTVs.

You can watch the full CES demonstration of Project Shield on Nvidia's Twitch.tv page. It's roughly 40 minutes long, and begins at around the 2h02m mark.

Nvidia unveils Android gaming handheld powered by 'world's fastest mobile processor' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:30:00 EST

Borderlands 2 will accompany Nvidia's latest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, as a PhysX-enabled freebie in the US and Europe. The bundle should be shipping to stores today in multiple SKUs, and the included code will enable a free download of the game when it's released on September 18 (September 21 in Europe). Prices may vary between Nvidia's manufacturing partners, but the GTX 660 Ti is meant to hover around $300 - a hundred bucks below the more powerful GTX 670.

The GTX 660 Ti shoots for a sweet(er) spot between affordability and Nvidia's Kepler architecture, which has been praised for its brutish performance and energy efficiency. The company claims the 660 Ti trumps ATi's $350 Radeon HD 7950, and outperforms the GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 41 percent. It runs at a base speed of 915 MHz (boosting up to 980 MHz), carries 2GB of GDDR5 RAM and probably emits a mighty fine whirr.

Kepler also makes a case for TXAA (Temporal Approximate Anti-Aliasing), a rendering technique that examines visual output and then attempts to predict and compensate for jagged edges in upcoming frames. According to Nvidia, TXAA is superior when it comes to producing anti-aliasing for scenes in motion. The first game to make use of TXAA is Funcom's new flagship MMO, The Secret World (demonstrated after the break.)

Nvidia didn't announce TXAA support for Borderlands 2, but did peg the cel-shaded shooter's maxed-settings performance on the 660 Ti at an average of 78 frames per second, on a high-end rig and a resolution of 1080p. The video above highlights the physics-driven flair added by PhysX, though not nearly as well as the insightful quote from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, which we've taken verbatim from the press materials: "you can get some crazy awesome physics simulations."

Continue reading Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet

Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia releases 'A New Dawn' graphical tech demo

Mike Schramm — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:00:00 EST

Nvidia has released an update to its famous Dawn technology demo, putting the exhaustively rendered fairy in an environment that's as lushly portrayed as the original character. This latest version for GTX cards features full DirectX 11 tesselation, with over four million triangles making up the vines and forest bark. Dawn's hair is also shown in much more detail: The original version had 1,700 strands that couldn't move, and this version realistically renders 40,000 strands of hair, reflecting light at various angles.

The fairy's skin is also updated with a feature called "sub-surface scattering," which allows light to enter a surface for a short distance, and then bounce out at a number of angles. This allows the skin to look more real, as opposed to glowy or translucent.

If you have the appropriate hardware and want to run the demo yourself, it's available for download from Nvidia right now. As Nvidia says in the official blog post, "let's hope games catch up to her real soon."

Nvidia releases 'A New Dawn' graphical tech demo originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia's GRID platform hopes to dramatically improve cloud gaming

Richard Mitchell — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:00 EST

Using words we don't quite understand, Nividia has announced a new platform that will conceivably make cloud gaming a much more viable prospect. The Geforce GRID platform features "dedicated ultra-low-latency streaming technology and cloud graphics software" and the company believes it will "fundamentally change the economics and experience of cloud gaming."

A single GRID unit houses two GPUs based on Nvidia's Kepler technology, which the company says are capable of maintaining eight separate game streams simultaneously, an attractive prospect for gaming service providers. Additionally, "fast streaming technology" will supposedly drop server latency to "as little as 10 milliseconds," which, as we understand it, is pretty fast. So fast that GRID could potentially stream very high-end games to virtually any device, from phone to TV to toaster. Furthermore, Nvidia is working with smart TV manufacturers to reduce ethernet input lag so that, in theory, Gaikai could have latency on par with a console connected via HDMI (or slightly lower latency, if you believe the graph above).

Of course, we'll have to wait and see how everything works out in practice, but the possibilities are, in a word, crazypants.

Nvidia's GRID platform hopes to dramatically improve cloud gaming originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online players can use in-game currency to pay for real-life graphics cards

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST

Play vidyagames, get real stuff for vidyagames: That's how the EVE Online PLEX-for-graphics-cards thing works. Good night, everyone!

OK, fine, in more detail this time: CCP Games, the developer behind EVE Online, has struck a deal with Nvidia for players to use in-game currency -- PLEX -- to purchase GeForce 560 GTX graphics cards, which run almost $200 at retail. That's fake money for real items, folks. Nvidia and CCP will start by selling 100 graphics cards (limit one per EVE account) to test the demand. After CCP announced its Nvidia deal, the in-game price of PLEX jumped "significantly," CCP said.

PLEX (Pilot License Extension) is an in-game currency that can be used to pay for 30-day EVE subscriptions. PLEX can be purchased with ISK, EVE's main currency that can be earned throughout the game, meaning some dedicated players end up with a free subscription each month. Now they may end up with a "free" graphics card as well.

EVE Online players can use in-game currency to pay for real-life graphics cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia's next-gen Kepler tech detailed

Jordan Mallory — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:50:00 EST

The realm of PC gaming is terrifying and expensive, and our clumsy hands can't be trusted around anything more fragile than a dual shock. As a result, we generally leave the technical, delicate heavy lifting of PC hardware analysis to our compatriots at Engadget, who are much more coordinated and far less hot-pocket stained than us.

Nvidia's newest graphics card, the GTX 680, is claimed to be the "fastest GPU in the world." It features an automatically variable clockspeed that maxes out GPU speed based on heat, "Adaptive VSync technology" for governing rendering speeds in sync with your monitor's refresh rate, and a new "TXAA" anti-aliasing algorithm, which we desperately hope stands for "Turbo Xtreme Anti-Aliasing." Head over to Engadget for its complete breakdown of the card's intricacies. It's even got charts and graphs!

Nvidia's next-gen Kepler tech detailed originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST

Rock, Paper, Shotgun collaborated in obtaining responses.

The Entertainment Software Association's support of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" has led us to ask every member of the video game industry's lobbying and political group to publicly declare its stance on the bill. The ESA's continued support means every member, by proxy, is a supporter of the bill.

Some companies have pulled their logos from supporting SOPA documentation to dodge ire, while others are hiding behind rhetoric, as you'll see below. Joystiq contacted every member of the ESA and requested a declarative statement on SOPA. After the break we've listed the responses we've received, along with others we found. We continue to seek clarity on this issue from every member of the ESA.

This will become the page we update as we receive responses and clear declarative statements, so feel free to bookmark.

(Joystiq does not support SOPA, nor does our parent company.)

Continue reading ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond

ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More than a few graphical issues for some Saints Row: The Third players

Arthur Gies — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EST

We liked Saints Row: The Third. Like, an awful lot. And this time around, after an awful port of Saints Row 2, Volition even went the extra mile, developing the PC version of Saints Row: The Third in-house, leading to much rejoicing over what's generally considered the best version of the game. But, as is often the case, not everyone is having a great time.

It seems there's a rather vocal group of users on the official Saints Row: The Third forums and the official Steam threads for the game having major performance issues in outdoor areas. This is a problem, given that the open-world parts of open-world games tend to, you know, be in the open areas of the world. Outdoors.

The performance problems appear to be spread across AMD and Nvidia hardware. Volition is soliciting users for their configurations and dxdiag files (don't ask!), and is working with with the GPU manufacturers on possible solutions. Having perused some of the message board threads in question, a more common configuration aspect for those affected is an overclocked CPU or GPU, which can cause negative performance issues on certain titles. Meanwhile, Volition has stated that it's still looking into the issue, one patch later.

More than a few graphical issues for some Saints Row: The Third players originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Explore Skyrim's other epic settings with PC tweak guide

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:30:00 EST

Nvidia has published an extensive optimization guide -- written by TweakGuides creator Koroush Ghazi -- for Skyrim. It explains and advises on the PC game's standard settings (anisotropic filtering, motion blur, etc.), as well as more granular modifications involving console commands and custom initialization files. It should be immensely helpful in getting Bethesda's sprawling game looking and running as good as your system allows.

Be attentive while following the guide, though. Our game used to run so well, but we took an error to the INI.

Explore Skyrim's other epic settings with PC tweak guide originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Batman: Arkham City PC system requirements detected

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST

We may have to wait until the eighteenth of November to get our WASD-lovin' keyboard claws on the PC version of Batman: Arkham City, but the extra weeks have given us ample time to make sure our beefy rigs are up to snuff.

Not that we're that worried, mind you: Nvidia has released the minimum and recommended system requirements for the caped crusader's latest romp (after the break), and all told the spec aren't totally outrageous. Maybe we didn't need to spend forty thousand dollars on a replica of Batman: The Animated Series' Batcave supercomputer after all.

Continue reading Batman: Arkham City PC system requirements detected

Batman: Arkham City PC system requirements detected originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zen Pinball THD has a ball with Tegra 2 on Android devices

Randy Nelson — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:35:00 EST

Zen Studios has announced that it's readying a Tegra 2-only version of its PSN title Zen Pinball for compatible Android phones and tablets. Set to arrive "soon," the game will be going up against the just-released Pinball HD port for Google's mobile OS, which also requires Nvidia's dual-core chip to run.

The announcement says that "several" tables will be included in the Zen port, including the one featured in the latest DLC for the console version, "Sorcerer's Lair" (seen in the gallery below). Also to be expected: head-to-head online multiplayer and achievements.

Zen Pinball THD -- as it's called -- will be playable at Google's I/O 2011 conference in San Francisco tomorrow, May 10, and Wednesday.

Gallery: Zen Pinball THD

Continue reading Zen Pinball THD has a ball with Tegra 2 on Android devices

Zen Pinball THD has a ball with Tegra 2 on Android devices originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 May 2011 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fable 3 set to overthrow the PC kingdom May 17 [update: now with screens!]

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:37:00 EST

PC gamers, it's time for you to renew your passport and update your vaccinations: You're going to be taking a trip to Albion in a few short months. Microsoft has announced that the third installment in its morally dichotomous RPG series, Fable 3, is due out on the PC in North America May 17, and in Europe, Australia and New Zealand May 19.

The Windows version of the game will include full 3D support for folks using the appropriate NVIDIA cards, and will also add a "Hardcore" mode, giving the game an unprecedented level of difficulty. We wonder if that difficulty will be reflected in the game's major ethical decisions as well -- for instance: Do you want to sacrifice your children, your wife, or your dog ... in the real world? Mwahahaha!

Update: Check out a ton of screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: Fable 3 (PC)

Fable 3 set to overthrow the PC kingdom May 17 [update: now with screens!] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bulletstorm PC to support Nvidia 3D Vision display

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST

Based on all the promotional materials we've seen and hands-on time we've had with Bulletstorm, we can confidently say that the game looks to be what those in the scientific community would call "a trip." Epic Games has clued in our sister site Big Download to a feature that might exponentially increase said trippyness: The PC version of Bulletstorm will include 3D-display support, provided you've got the right kind of monitor, glasses and an Nvidia GeForce-based graphics card.

As excited as we are about the opportunity to freeze an enemy in the air, then kick him backward through actual planes of depth, we're actually more thrilled about something else: seeing the game's dialog as three-dimensional subtitles. It's like we can reach out and touch the "dick-tits."

Bulletstorm PC to support Nvidia 3D Vision display originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SouthPeak claims creditors used press to 'paint a negative picture' of the company

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

Throughout 2009 and 2010, SouthPeak's legal struggles made headlines. From the sweeping claims of unpaid work following the buyout of Gamecock Media Group to the lawsuits brought on by various companies that had done business with SouthPeak, a less than favorable image of the Texas-based game publisher had been created. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, SouthPeak chairman Terry Phillips defended his company, claiming creditors "used the press to try to put pressure on us; to try to squeeze a better deal out of us; to try to paint a negative picture of us."

"You read a lot of it and you just think we've had a terrible year on the legal side," Terry Phillips added, "but we've not had one single substantive judgment against us whatsoever this year." He cited a French court's ruling in favor of SouthPeak over developer Nobilis, which granted the publisher "all rights on future [My Baby] games." Needless to say, SouthPeak is hoping for a sunnier 2011, as it expands the availability of Two Worlds 2, continues growing the My Baby family, and works with Nvidia to bring Tegra 2-powered games to Android devices.

SouthPeak claims creditors used press to 'paint a negative picture' of the company originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia posts $141 million loss in Q2, consumer business to blame

Christopher Grant — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:40:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Graphics chip maker Nvidia has released its fiscal Q2 earnings, and while some of the more industry-oriented products - "Quadro professional graphics, Tesla GPU computing, and our Tegra system-on-a-chip business" - have delivered "excellent results" the "GeForce consumer business fell significantly short of expectations."

What does that mean in dollars and cents? A net loss of $141m for Q2, down from a loss of $105m for the same period last year. It's a notable drop from the company's Q1 profits of $138m. So why were earnings down, though revenue of $811m was actually up from the same time last year? "Results were impacted by a large inventory write-down," the earnings report says. "The inventory write-down was a consequence of weakened demand for consumer graphics processing units (GPUs) as higher memory prices and economic weakness in Europe and China led to a greater-than-expected shift to lower-priced GPUs and PCs with integrated graphics."

So it's the same old story: global economic meltdown leading to PC sales with cheaper - or even integrated! - GPUs. Wow, the future is bizarre.

Nvidia posts $141 million loss in Q2, consumer business to blame originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reports: 3DS more powerful than Wii, doesn't use Nvidia chips

JC Fletcher — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST

Reports from anonymous sources are starting to paint a rather surprising picture of the mysterious Nintendo 3DS. Both IGN and Eurogamer report that developers have said off-the-record that the handheld won't use the Nvidia Tegra chip, as it was rumored to do. Eurogamer's sources claim that the 3DS hardware is internally known as "CTR," suggesting that the motherboard image submitted to the FCC in May, which noted the "CTR" codename, was indeed related to the 3DS.

According to IGN, "Several developers that have experienced 3DS in its current form have reported, off the record, that it has processing capabilities that far exceed the Nintendo Wii and bring the device with abilities that are close to HD consoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360."

We'll find out for ourselves when Nintendo unveils the thing at E3, but this sounds rather uncharacteristic. Nintendo's handhelds have always been designed to use not-quite-cutting-edge technology, to keep costs down and battery life long. We suppose a certain level of processing power is required to generate 3D imagery, especially on two screens, but if these reports are true, the 3DS would represent a totally new strategy for Nintendo.

Source: Eurogamer
Source: IGN

Reports: 3DS more powerful than Wii, doesn't use Nvidia chips originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia announces GTX 470 and 480 cards

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:50:00 EST

The opening day of PAX East in Boston was capped by a fairly humongous presentation from PC gaming hardware manufacturer Nvidia, representatives from which introduced two new graphic cards: The XLR8 GeForce GTX 480 1536MB and XLR8 GeForce GTX 470 1280MB. The new pieces of hardware are priced at $500 and $350, respectively, and have a tentative release window of mid-April.

In addition to being capable of rendering some impressive visuals -- as seen in the presentation's 3D, multi-monitor demos of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Metro 2033 -- the two devices come loaded with some neat bonuses. Among these are a handful of download vouchers for high-def films from Sony Pictures and two tech demos titled Design Garage and Supersonic Sled. We really, really hope the latter can be fleshed out into a full-length game.

Nvidia announces GTX 470 and 480 cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metro 2033 supports DirectX11, as evident in eight new screens

Randy Nelson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:15:00 EST

click to enable hardware embiggenation

Even if you don't know your tessellation from your displacement mapping, there's no denying that these freshly delivered screenshots of THQ and 4a Games' upcoming FPS Metro 2033 look stunning, thanks to the game's support for "a number of advanced DX11 features with the latest generation of DX11 graphics cards." These effects include the aforementioned tessellation, which produces rich detail from simple 3D surfaces, and some mighty-impressive depth of field camera focus effects.

NVIDIA is using Metro 2033 as an example of what's possible with its latest DX11-compliant GPUs, saying that "The 4A Engine is one of the most advanced game engines we've ever worked with, and with DX11 enabled, Metro 2033 is undoubtedly one of the best looking PC games of 2010." We agree -- it is very pretty in action, and the PC version we've seen wasn't yet employing any DX11 voodoo. Also, remember: In Soviet Russia, hardware tessellates you!

Gallery: Metro 2033 (DX11)

Metro 2033 supports DirectX11, as evident in eight new screens originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia details next graphics chip, codenamed 'GF100'

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:00:00 EST

There's nothing quite like a 30-second tech demo clip to get our hearts racing. Maybe, just maybe, the inclusion of some steaming hot data to go with that footage, perhaps from a big PC hardware company like Nvidia regarding its next graphics chip. Good thing then that we have just that (we're shaking in anticipation just putting down these words), as Nvidia unveiled its "GF100" (a codename) alongside said video clip (embedded after the break) just recently.

What about those pulse-pounding specifics, you say? Well, the chip features "3 billion transistors, double the CUDA cores of previous generation GPUs, a high speed GDDR5 memory interface, and full DirectX 11 support." Whoa, whoa, settle down there kiddo, there's more. Reports have gauged it as running games like FarCry 2 at 84.3 frames per second with the resolution cranked all the way up. No price has yet been given, but can you really put a price on quality? (The answer is yes, and it could be a high one.)

[Via BigDownload]

Continue reading Nvidia details next graphics chip, codenamed 'GF100'

Nvidia details next graphics chip, codenamed 'GF100' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware introduces teensy M11x gaming laptop

JC Fletcher — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:30:00 EST

For those of you who want a high-end gaming experience, but don't want to develop totally ripped arms from lifting a standard "gaming laptop" or carry a computer that can double as a sail, Dell-owned Alienware has introduced the M11x, which combines power with tininess.

The M11x, basically Alienware's version of a netbook, features an 11.6-inch screen and an NVidia GT335M card that can be switched off to increase battery life when not gaming. Retailing for some unspecified sub-$1,000 amount (so $999.99?), the tiny computer can apparently run Crysis at 60 frames per second in 720p.

Check our gallery for more official images, and see some closeups of the device over on Engadget. The M11x is simply our pick for the most neato of the many new Dell and Alienware computers unveiled at CES.

Gallery: Alienware M11x laptop

Alienware introduces teensy M11x gaming laptop originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia shows off Unreal Engine 3 on Tegra

JC Fletcher — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST

NVidia chose to show off the processing power of the new version of its mobile Tegra processor the same way many companies demonstrate their big-boy processors: with Unreal Engine 3. On stage at its CES presentation, NVidia demonstrated an FPS running on the processor -- the same processor the company demonstrated in several portable tablet-type devices.

Though Epic's Tim Sweeney classified it as the "same engine" that runs on PC, Engadget described it as "A lot like the iPhone demo we saw recently. Certainly impressive, but this isn't an Xbox 360 yet." And, in fact, the environment bears a resemblance to that from the iPhone demo. Nonetheless, the demonstration prove that Tegra is quite powerful for a chip designed for handheld devices -- and one that's rumored to be part of a future DS system.

Nvidia shows off Unreal Engine 3 on Tegra originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Nvidia Tegra chip going into next-generation DS

JC Fletcher — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:46:00 EST

According to Bright Side of News' secret ~~sauces~~ sources, Nvidia is in talks with Nintendo about the hardware for the successor to the Nintendo DS. Nintendo is reportedly interested in Nvidia's Tegra line of chips for mobile devices, like the one in the Zune HD. Considering that the Zune HD can do things like play HD video, it sounds like a power boost over the existing DS hardware. The lower-end Tegra APX has a clock speed of 600 MHz, compared to the current DS cores, which run at 67MHz and 33MHz.

However, BSN believes that the potential timing of the announcement (late next year) suggests that Nintendo could use the next generation of Tegra chips, which, the site says, use "GeForce 9 based hardware." And if they're cheap enough, Nintendo might consider it! The only question (well, the only other question, besides "is any of this true") is whether the capability to play ported console games is really a good thing for the DS.

[Via Develop]

Rumor: Nvidia Tegra chip going into next-generation DS originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buy Nvidia graphics card, get Arkham Asylum free

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:00:00 EST

If you're planning on beefing up your compy's visual capabilities any time soon, you might want to turn your attention to this fairly amazing offer: If you buy a graphics card containing Nvidia's GeForce GTX 260, GeForce GTX 275 or GeForce GTX 285, then you'll get a coupon for a free download of the PC version of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

This partnership between Nvidia and Eidos isn't that surprising -- the PC version of Rocksteady's surprisingly wonderful stealth-action title was delayed to September 15 to allow for the implementation of Nvidia's PhysX technology. However, interestingly enough, Bruce Wayne is actually a 30 percent stockholder in AMD. Scan-da-lous.

[Via Big Download]

Buy Nvidia graphics card, get Arkham Asylum free originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QuakeCon 2009 detailed, first public demos of Rage and Brink

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:30:00 EST

Nothing more clearly shows the new relationship forged by Zenimax Media between id Software and Bethesda Softworks than this year's QuakeCon lineup. Littered with little extras like an hour-long presentation by Bethesda's Todd Howard and the first public demonstration of Splash Damage's Brink, QuakeCon 2009 is clearly accommodating some new faces.

That being said, id Software's John Carmack will be giving this year's keynote speech, and the event is still very much PC-centric, with Alienware, NVIDA and Ventrilo hosting a handful of events. Upcoming post-apocalyptic, not-Mad Max FPS Rage will also be getting its first public demo at the show, further asserting id Software into the event. For those of you attending, we encourage hounding Todd Howard for information on the next Elder Scrolls game during his Q&A -- if not for us, do it for the kids.

QuakeCon 2009 detailed, first public demos of Rage and Brink originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Batman PC release bumped to September, Nvidia PhysX supported

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST

Bad news for those hoping to answer the Bat-Signal's call by way of a computer -- the PC version of Batman: Arkham Asylum will not be arriving at the "same Bat-time" (or "same Bat-channel," if you think about it) as its console iterations. Eidos and Nvidia today dated the PC release for September 15 in North American and September 18 in Europe and Australia. That's a bit of a bump from the console versions' August 25 launch.

Speaking of Nvidia, today's news also revealed that the game will support the manufacturer's "PhysX" technology, provided you've got a beefy enough GeForce card. We suppose the game's newfound prettiness makes up for its marginal tardiness. Hey, at least it wasn't pushed to the ever-popular Q1 2010, right guys?

[Via Big Download]

Batman PC release bumped to September, Nvidia PhysX supported originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA announces expanded support for PhysX and APEX from Sega, Capcom

Andrew Yoon — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST

Remember how impressed the gaming community was when Havok powered the gravity gun in Half-Life 2? Dynamic physics have come a long way since then, with NVIDIA covertly offering its own competitor, in the form of the PhysX engine. The PhysX engine has powered the physics of a number of games so far, such as Mass Effect, Gears of War and even Sonic and the Secret Rings. In addition to PhysX, NVIDIA has expanded its development tools with its APEX framework, which will supposedly allow artists to design fully realized physics-based and destructible objects.

NVIDIA has just announced the addition of a rather valuable publishing partner to take advantage of their development APIs. The house of Sonic will be utilizing both PhysX and APEX in all upcoming games from its worldwide studios. In addition, NVIDIA announced expanded PhysX support for Capcom's Dark Void, WBIE's Terminator Salvation, and the upcoming Darkest of Days and U-Wars.

NVIDIA announces expanded support for PhysX and APEX from Sega, Capcom originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia expands PhysX toolset to Wii

Majed Athab — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:30:00 EST

Nvidia's PhysX technology is spreading everywhere, so it seems. Just a few days ago, the company worked out a deal with Sony, and now, the full-featured application programming interface and physics engine is coming to the Wii too -- with Nintendo seal of approval, no doubt.

SDKs are now available to registered Wii developers (and if you don't know what an SDK is, then you're probably not a developer and not getting one!). It'll be interesting to see how the tech handles on Wii -- the combination of a souped-up physics engine and motion sensor control could yield some very exciting results.

Nvidia expands PhysX toolset to Wii originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia provides free physics tools for PS3 developers

Majed Athab — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc and Nvidia have inked a deal to bring PhysX SDKs to registered PS3 developers free of charge. The partnership gives PS3 devs the binary version of the PhysX kit, which includes a full-featured application programming interface and physics engine.

And just like fellow middleware Havok, Nvidia PhysX is also free for PC developers. Most games developed with PhysX have been PC titles (Empire Earth III), but PS3 support seems to be growing. In the past, PhysX was used in 2006's Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire. Not the best game out there, but future titles that will harness PhysX in some way, such as the upcoming PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain, show much more promise.

Nvidia provides free physics tools for PS3 developers originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia and Intel at odds over chipset license agreement

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:40:00 EST

We don't wish to bore you with our extensive knowledge of integrated memory controllers or graphicular renderpipe cashays, so we'll simply leap to the core of this computer matter. Nvidia has responded to an Intel court filing, which alleges that a 2004 chipset licensing agreement between the two companies does not extend to Intel's future generation CPUs -- you know, the ones with integrated memory controllers.

Nvidia has deemed this movement counter to the prior agreement, with president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang saying, "We are confident that our license, as negotiated, applies." He sees it as a brewing power struggle, labeling his own company as the major innovator and Intel as attempting to "stifle innovation to protect a decaying CPU business." Nvidia claims that it has been attempting to settle matters outside of the court for over a year. Good luck to whatever judge has to decide which hardware giant has the bigger chip on its solder, eh? EH?

[Via Big Download]

Nvidia and Intel at odds over chipset license agreement originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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nVidia posts $30 million loss, remains optimistic

David Hinkle — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:30:00 EST

It's tough creating photo-realistic graphics, as nVidia can tell you. In fact, the economy has been making things even more difficult, as the graphics chip manufacturer has posted a $30 million loss for its 2009 fiscal year.

For its Q4 ending January 25th, revenues fell by 60% down to a total of $481.1 million. Over the course of its full fiscal year, nVidia posted revenue loss of 16% to a total of $3.4 billion. Despite all of this loss, nVidia president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang remains optimistic.

"Although fiscal 2009 was extremely difficult, it was one of our best years of innovation," he said. He also offered that his company made "many important advances in graphics processing," citing the company's work with "PhysX and 3D Vision, GPU computing with CUDA and Tesla, and mobile computing with ION and Tegra." You know, BETTAR GRAFIX.

nVidia posts $30 million loss, remains optimistic originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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