Ignite
Ignite is an arcade racing game with a distinctive scoring system. A demo is available both as a DRM-free download and in Steam.
Recent Detailed Reports
Recent Articles & News
Zero-Bezel Mirror Box for Eyefinity/Surround
Greetings fellow widescreen gamers! I wanted to share a little project I've been working on over the holidays. It is something I’ve been thinking about for the past several months but only recently had the time to build.
The concept is pretty simple: build a box that utilizes a half-silvered mirror to create a zero-bezel multi-monitor widescreen effect. I didn’t invent this concept, it was used in several 80’s arcade games such as Darius, Ninja Warriors, and Tecmo Bowl. (I’ve built many MAME cabinets over the years, so this is where I got the idea- small plug for the BYOAC forum.
I acquired a few used LCDs from a local business closing down, so I’ve only been doing the multi-monitor thing since October. In general they are good monitors (HP 2065), but it has been quite tedious to match the color/contrast/brightness due to their age. In any case, the bezels were buggin’ and so this project was born.
Pathfinder MMO Kickstarter
I should have mentioned this much earlier, but I wanted to share with everyone the Pathfinder MMO Kickstarter. The game is being developed by Goblinworks, based on the Pathfinder rule set and game world. Pathfinder was created by Paizo publishing, and is considered by many to be "D&D 3.75e".
I'm a big fan of Paizo, and the Pathfinder rules. In addition to this great foundation, Goblinworks announced that Pathfinder MMO will be built on the Unity 3D engine. Based on our experience, the Unity 3D engine has excellent support for AMD Eyefinity and NVIDIA Surround.
If you're into "old school" roleplpaying, indie devs, MMOs, sandbox games, Eyefinity or Surround, then give the Kickstarter a look.
CES Gaming News - Part 2
Now that CES has wrapped up, here are a few more articles and announcements that should be of interest to gamers.
More Oculus Rift - Engadget had an interview with the folks behind the upcoming VR headset. There was also additional news on playable demos and showcases, particularly the Epic Citadel.
More 4k Displays - Intel and the VESA DisplayPort group showed a new take on 4k displays - the "Collage". Shown off a Gigabyte motherboard, four 1080p displays were driven by two Thunderbolt ports, or a single DisplayPort 1.2 and MST hub. Panasonic showed off a prototype 4k tablet. The 20" device may never make it to production, but it does show that 4k resolutions can already be squeezed down to monitor sizes. TechGage also put out an article showcasing the different 4k resolutions and the need for a standard.
PC Hardware - InWin showed off some great new PC cases, the D-Frame and H-Frame. And famed art/tech house Art Lebedev Studio showed off their latest keyboard, the Optimus Popularis. The keyboard is fully customizable, with small screens for each key - think the Razer Blade for a full keyboard. The $1k price tag will keep it out of the mass market, but is hopefully a sign of what the "keyboard of tomorrow" will look like.
Monitors - BenQ announced a 1ms "professional gaming monitor". ASUS also announced a 144Hz monitor aimed at gamers.
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends
A Ferrari-centric, mission-based arcade-sim from the makers of NFS Shift.
Costume Quest
Costume Quest combines turn-based QTE-like combat with object-collecting adventure and a few minigames.
Mischievous siblings Wren and Reynold are getting ready to celebrate Halloween. When suddenly - monsters ! Abduction ! Candy-snatching big evil ?
As trick-or-treat turns into a desperate rescue mission, it's time to unleash the full mystical power of hand-made kiddie costumes to face the nasty Grubbins and give'em what for.
Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is a 2D top-down action video game by Dennaton Games, a team composed of Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin, who had previously collaborated on Keyboard Drumset *** Werewolf. The game is being published by Devolver Digital and was released on 23 October 2012 for Windows. The game has been described by Eurogamer as a "top down ***'em up", blending top down perspective with stealth, extreme violence and surreal storytelling, along with a soundtrack and visuals influenced by 1980s culture.
FTL: Faster Than Light
FTL: Faster Than Light is a top down, real time strategy game created by indie developers Subset Games. In the game, the player controls the crew of a single spacecraft, holding critical information to be delivered to an allied fleet several sectors away, while in pursuit by a large rebel fleet. The player must guide the spacecraft over a number of sectors, each with planetary systems and events generated in a procedurally-generated roguelike fashion, while facing against rebel and other hostile forces, recruiting new crew, and outfitting and upgrading their ship.
CES Gaming News - Part 1
So, the first couple of days are behind us for CES 2013. A few things have been announced/showcased that are relevant to gaming.
Razer Edge: Razer has come out with the Razer Edge, which is the production model of Project Fiona shown last year at CES 2012. Engadget has also posted a comparison of the Edge versus of tablet options.
Valve Steambox: Valve's hardware move is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. However, a number of unique prototypes were shown at CES. While a number of them seem to be just PCs in HTPC form factors, the Piston from Xi3 is certainly unique. in addition to be very small and light, it offers modular and easily updates to hardware.
Oculus Rift: The folks at Engadget have an updated take on the hardware. PC World and TechHive say it's so good, "it's scary". I'm more excited to have one coming for the WSGF.
4k Displays: Big news is 4k displays. There are lots of them being announced, along with a few new (regular HD) monitors being released by HP.
2013 - The Year of DisplayPort MST
January always brings two things, un-kept resolutions and CES. And with CES we always get a plethora of leaks and pre-show releases. A number of recent releases are pointing to Display Port daisy chaining and MST hubs finally making a splash in 2013. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a post at TFT Central regarding model numbers of upcoming Dell displays. The post contained a scan of the DisplayPort 1.2 flyer from the Dell U2913WM. The flyer indicated that upcoming products (U2413, U2713H and U3014) would all include DisplayPort daisy chaining through including DP 1.2 MST hubs. I fished out my flyer, and have included a scan here.
Just a couple days ago, David Tjong from AMD make a couple of tweets that showcased the DP 1.2 Daisy Chain and an unbranded MST Hub (probably a prototype).
Good news is that the clutter-cutting technology is here and/or soon to be here. Also remember that the MST Hubs can work with non-DisplayPort monitors. You can use them to attach three DVI panels to a single DisplayPort connection. I've been wanting to step up from 1080p panels to 2560x1440. The U2713H with the DP 1.2 Daisy Chain may just be the ticket.
