3d-vision posts

With more and more PC games supporting 3D viewing features, it makes sense that some might want to make seeing these games in 3D more affordable. Nvidia has led the way in promoting 3D PC gaming with its 3D Vision technology and today the company announced that its 3D Vision wireless glasses kit is both more affordable and longer lasting.

The kit, which contains the glasses as well as the infrared receiver, now sells for $149 which is a $50 price cut from its previous price. In addition the battery life of the glasses has been improved from 40 hours to 60 hours. Keep in mind that PC gamers must also have a Nvidia 3D vision compatible display and of course a game that supports 3D Vision to see the 3D effects with the glasses.

Orion: Prelude has had a successful fund raising effort via Kickstarter.com (it raised well over $5,000 more than its stated goal of $10,000). Now the upcoming sci-fi shooter from developer Spiral Game Studios has announced plans to team up with Nvidia to present a special five minute movie showing off the dinosaurs in the game.

According to the post, the development team will use Nvidia's 3D Vision technology to let folks see how the dinosaurs in the game (T-rex, Raptor and Pteranodon) interact with each other and the game's environment. The video will be released before the planned multiplayer beta for Orion: Prelude.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has been out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 for three months now but at the moment PC gamers are still waiting for the promised PC version of the third game in the Ubisoft action game series. While Ubisoft has been silent on when the PC port will be released, the German web site Gamestar has posted up an article that looks at what PC players can expect when the port finally comes out.

According to the article (translated by Google) the game will have improved graphics compared to the console ports, including support for ambient occlusion for lighting. The game will also support Nvidia's 3D Vision tech for playing the game in 3D. PCs with AMD Radeon graphics chips will also be able to play the game with its Eyefinity multi-monitor support. The article also claims that all of the downloadable content that was released for the console versions will be included in the PC port. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood for the PC is supposed to be released by the end of March.

[Thanks wlodi}

Homefront is getting closer to its March 8 release date and today the first person shooter's official web site posted up a detailed article and FAQ on the PC version with info on the PC specific features which are being put in by developer Digital Extremes.

Some of the features that will be unique to the PC port will include having both third person and first person viewpoints when driving vehicles in the game. There will also be three difficulty settings for flying the game's helicopters for those who want the choice of a more arcade experience or a more sim-like flying gameplay design. There will also be a Practice Mode for those who want to try driving the vehicles outside of combat. Look for a dedicated server executable to be made available for download about two weeks after the PC game is released and the game will also support Nvidia's 3D Vision tech.

On the down side it sound like there won't be a demo of the game, at least before launch. Mod tools might be released sometime after Homefront ships. The PC game uses Steamworks for its DRM and won't be using the controversial Online Pass that THQ will have for the console versions

You can check out some updated Homefront PC system requirements after the jump. The update is mostly the same as we reported a few days ago but adds the requirements for Nvidia's 3D Vision set up.

[Via VG247.com]

While there's been a lot of buzz about 3D gaming lately, especially this week with the launch date revealed for the 3D-enabled Nintendo 3DS console, the folks at PC graphics chip company Nvidia have been promoting the fact that it has enabled support for hundreds of PC games to have 3D support over the last few years with its 3D Vision tech. In its latest article, Eurogamer's Digital Foundry takes a close-up look at 3D Vision and compared how games that support the tech look next to its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts.

In short, there was no comparison with the article saying, "These are console games radically transformed: they look better, they feel better to play, and they're getting us involved in the action in a way the console versions just can't match. This feels like the future of 3D." Nvidia's 3DTV Play support also allows PCs to hook up to 3D-enabled big-screen TVs for some living room PC gaming although if you turn up the resolution to the full 1080p frame rates suffer. Digital Foundry suggests dialing it down to 720p for TV-based 3D playing which still blows away the graphical looks of console games at that same resolution.

In summary, while a 3D Vision supported PC will still cost more than a PS3 or Xbox 360, Digital Foundry states, " .. the sheer power you're getting for that outlay is phenomenal, the games you're buying will be much cheaper and the available catalogue of 3D software outstrips any other platform."

Big Download has learned from developer Epic Games that its upcoming first person shooter Bulletstorm will be the latest PC game that will feature support for Nvidia's 3D Vision technology. That means if your PC has an Nvidia GeForce-based graphics card and if you own the 3D Vision glasses and a compatible monitor you should be able to see all of the over-the-top shooter action of Bulletstorm in 3D.

The 3D support is exclusive to the PC version of the game which hopefully will remove some of the sting of PC users not being able to get a demo for the game like their console counterparts. Bulletstorm , which is co-developed by People Can Fly and will be published by Electronic Arts, is due for release on February 22.

Owners of gaming PCs with Nvidia GeForce-based graphics cards can now grab the first beta graphics drivers of 2011. The GeForce.com web site now has the downloads to the new 266.35 beta drivers for the GeForce family of graphics chips. The beta drivers support the newly launched GeForce GTX 580 and GeForce GTX 570 graphics chips.

The new drivers boost performance for the 400 and 500 family of GeForce-based cards in a number of PC games including Battlefield Bad Company 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and many others. In addition the new drivers add ambient occlusion support for StarCraft 2, allowing for more realistic lighting and shadows in the Blizzard RTS game. You can check out examples of how ambient occlusion looks in the game at the GeForce.com web site.

Finally the new drivers have some changes and additions for Nvidia's 3D Vision feature. The drivers now support seeing some PC games in 3D in a game window as opposed to just full screen support. More 3D Vision-supported games have been added including Medal of Honor, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit and DC Universe Online.

[Via Blue's News]

As 2010 draws to a close, we look back and marvel at how far PC gaming has come over the past decade. The start of the new millennium brought technology and trends that will resonate for years to come. So we take this opportunity to examine some of those technology trends and see how they might grow over or fizzle out over the next ten years. Here are our predictions of what PC gaming might look like in 2020.

While Black Friday and indeed the entire holiday shopping season is in full swing, PC gamers live not just by the games they play but the PC gaming rigs, controllers and other hardware set-ups they play their games on. We've already given you our list of PC games to gift for the holidays but now we have another list featuring various PC hardware rigs and other items that your PC gamer might love to get.

The items here range from the reasonably priced to stuff that's, well, something to perhaps dream about getting this year (or if you win the lottery or have a rich uncle). We have full PC game rigs to tell you about today along with some other items like PC gaming mice, keyboards and more. As always be sure to shop around and ask your potential holiday gift target what he or she wants beforehand.

Today the PC graphics chip make Nvidia is releasing a new product, the GeForce GT 430 graphics card. The mainstream graphics card (it will be sold under $100 in most retailers) is also the occasion for a new GeForce desktop driver update.Nvidia has now released the 260.89 drivers in beta form.

The new beta drivers increase performance in certain games with PCs containing Nvidia 400-based graphics cards. Games like StarCraft II get up to a 19 percent performance with the beta drivers, depending on what graphics card is used. It also adds 3D Vision support for a new set of PC monitors and a number of games including Fallout New Vegas, Lost Planet 2, Arcania: Gothic 4 and more.

[Via Blue's News]