E3 2011: AMD revives FX name for Bulldozer
We were expecting announcements about AMD’s new Bulldozer line of processors at the big hardware trade show, Computex, last week. And we were disappointed. Instead, they’ve been sort of formally launched at E3 today, where AMD has relaunched its FX brandname for high performance components.
I say ‘sort of’ because other than confirming that the first Bulldozer CPUs, forthcoming eight core monsters codenamed ‘Zambezi’, will be branded ‘FX’ chips, there’s actually no new information about them at all to confirm clockspeeds and pricing details. Instead, today’s announced is that motherboards with the 900-series chipset and graphics cards from the HD6000 line-up will also be known as ‘FX’ parts.
PC Gamer UK Podcast 42
Trust me, I’m Machiavelli: We kick off season two of our podcast with talk of our new site. Tim, Tom, Graham and Craig discuss why Guild Wars 2 will be genuinely different, the crushing disappointment of APB, the cleverest thing about Portal 2, how drama works in The Old Republic, why Bethesda should use the Rage engine for the next Elder Scrolls, the ridiculous inconsistencies of Singularity, and how the PC fared against the consoles at E3. The true identity of the podcat is also revealed. One Twitter question demanded a photo of where we record our podcast, so there’s a grainy phone pic below the fold.
Download the MP3 here, subscribe here, and find our older podcasts here.
Portal 2 E3 Demo – Parts 4 and 5
Don’t be discouraged in the face of great adversity! Make thermal beams and pneumatic vents your allies, not your enemies.
Why the PC won E3
PC Gamers don’t get to watch a glitzy press conference at E3. We don’t get a PR firm to pump millions into glossy stage shows, or detailed press releases. We don’t even get a mascot. But we do get incredible games, and a steady stream of hardware innovations that let the PC leapfrog the opposition. Here’s why the PC was the real victor at E3.
Dungeon Siege 3 E3 Impressions
The newly announced, Obsidian developed Dungeon Siege 3 was on-show in private rooms off the show floor at E3, and I was there to take a look. This new dungeon crawler is an interesting project: the first two games were purely about action and loot. Dungeon Siege 3 does things differently – Obsidian want to add a story and moral complexity to this over-the-shoulder Diablo-inspired orc-em-up. WTF?
Microsoft’s shameful E3 PC showing
Here’s a fun fact: if you tried searching for PC games at E3, you’d do a better job looking at Sony’s portfolio than Microsoft’s. For the sum total of Microsoft’s commitment to PC gaming at E3 was utterly embarrassing. Four Xbox 360s running Fable 3. It’s now absolutely clear that Microsoft have zero interest in developing or supporting PC gaming’s incredible future. Their PC E3 showing was an embarrassment to the platform.
Risk meets MMO in Heroes of Three Kingdoms
Perfect World was showing off quite a few new games at E3 this year, but it was Heroes of Three Kingdoms that had some of the most interesting features. Controlling territories will be a major part of the end-game focus, as a Risk-like map tracks factions’ influence over the game world. Aspiring world-conquerors will need to rely on allies to help defend their faction’s territories with NPC armies, forts, and, of course, their own characters, while working to sabotage and take over enemy territories. Here’s a shot I took on the show floor:
The free MMO with a Jar-Jar-hurting minigame
Sony Online Entertainment’s upcoming Clone Wars Adventures free-to-play, browser-based MMO is targeted at kids. But the team understands how to attract older Star Wars fans as well: by allowing us to inflict pain on Jar Jar Binks.
Civilization 5 trailer
Of all the games to indulge in documentary-like interviews with its own developers for a trailer, I’m glad it’s Civ 5. Here are five minutes of interviews and game footage, narrated by the silkiest cyborg machine-voice to ever haunt your dreams:
Front Mission Evolved screenshots: actually good?
I’m not a marketing exec for one of the biggest games publishers on the globe. It’s hard for my tiny mind to work out why you’d make a game where you command mechanical soldiers and shoot missiles out of your hands, and then call it “Front Mission Evolved.” I can’t answer that question, but I can tell you why you should care about… what was it called? I forget. Mission something. Anyway, MECHS.
New Rage screenshots suggest possible mutants
There’s a lot of passion, experience, and intuition behind the PC Gamer name. That’s why, with only a few newly released screens of id Software’s upcoming shooter-with-cars Rage to go on, we can tell that there’ll be some sort of angry guy with a wrench to fight. Maybe he’s a little mutated, you know? Maybe there are more than one. ”Pfft, what are you basing this on? Where are the FACTS?” I hear you ask. Well, when you’ve been doing this for as long as I have (about four weeks), you’ll understand how I can just know that. Here are the new shots:
Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 hands on
In a private meeting room above the E3 showfloor, I had the chance to play many of the zones in The Old Republic: the massively anticipated, massively multiplayer Star Wars game. And guess what? It’s the most polished game at the show.
Should Rock Band 3 be on PC?
I did a bit of console reconnaissance at E3. I snuck in to see Rock Band 3–the industry’s flagship music game. It supports seven players. It has a MIDI keyboard. It has an actual, stringed guitar. And it’s still not on PC. Should it be?
Hands on with the new Lara Croft game
You might have heard that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is Indiana Jones-meets-Diablo: isometric Mayan dungeon crawling where hell’s minions are swapped for giant spiders, spells traded for pistols and flamethrowers. But developer Crystal Dynamics is keen on downplaying any comparison between Diablo and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. I got to play it for myself in co-op with the game’s creative director Daniel Neuburger, so here’s my take.
