intel posts

GoG.com's surprising shut down today took us off guard. While there's hope that the site will continue in some form we wonder if it will relaunch with its "no DRM policy". We certainly think that's the way to go with selling older PC games:

• GamersGate now supports browsing its library of games via Facebook although you have to go to the main GamersGate.com site to actually complete your purchase.
• Want to unlock your Intel CPU for more performance? You can likely do it yourself for free or you can get a $50 card from Intel to do it.
• BioShock Infinite meets Minecraft. Very cool indeed.

It looks like it's taking Razer a bit longer to perfect its motion controller for PC games. The PC game peripheral company announced and showed off a working prototype of the controller at CES last January playing Left 4 Dead 2. At the time the company said the controller would be released to the masses later in 2010.

Now our sister site Engadget reports that Razer showed off the controller again earlier this week at Intel's Developers Forum. Engadget also reports that the controllers, which are being co-developed by Sixense, are now set for release sometime in early 2011. Razer also showed concept art that imagined the technology being used as an exersise band. There's no word on when that product will be released. You can check out a trailer with the updated motion sensing controller demo after the jump:

Time for another giveaway contest at Big Download and this one is particularly nice. Thanks to the combined efforts of Intel and the MMO Star Trek Online, Big Download is giving our readers a chance to win one of three $200 Best Buy gift cards which can be used to buy anything at the major electronics and game retailer. The cards are provided to us courtesy of the Star Trek Online Architect web site where you can play mini-games and enter even more contests to win prizes like Intel Core i7 processors and even a replica of the Captain's Chair from the original series of Star Trek.

How do you get a chance to win one of these gift cards? It's really simple:

• To enter, post a comment on this contest page.
• The comment must be left before 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, August 31
• You may enter only once.
• Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• The winners will each be sent a Best Buy gift card worth $200
• Click Here for complete Official Rules. You must be a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) who is 18 years or older to enter this contest

Our thanks to Intel and Star Trek Online's Architect web page for sponsoring this contest. Good luck.

The upcoming streaming PC game service Gaikai has announced that Intel will be an investor in the company through its Intel Capital division. Gaikai's hardware servers will use Intel processors and solid state hard drives. Limelight Networks is also a new investory in Gaikai and the company will use Limelight's network for its service.

The press release said that Gaikai "will launch in the summer of 2010". However when emailed by Big Download we were told that the launch will only offer free game demos with the service. Full game streaming of the type that's being offered by OnLive will happen in 2011, according to their PR contact.

[Via email press release]

It looks like the long-in-development PC first person shooter called by its code name Project Offset by the development team Offset Software is officially shut down at its home at the PC processor maker Intel. Big Download contacted the the company to get an update on this long-in development project and received this response via email today:

Intel purchased Offset Software to improve our game development knowledge-base and to further Intel's visual computing technology development expertise, helping the company offer robust products, support, and tools to customers. With the recent changes in our product roadmap, some of the resources and technologies from the acquisition are being re-applied to help support new graphics related projects. Additionally, other Offset Software team members have moved onto other external projects outside the company.

The changes in Intel's product roadmap in the statement most likely refer to the company's decision to cancel the high-end graphics chip product code name "Larabee" that was shut down as a commercial hardware product last December.

Offset Software launched in 2005 and was formed by several former members of S2 Games who previously helped to develop the engine for the developer's first game in the Savage series. The development team released some test footage from the game, Project Offset, that showed a graphically rich first person shooter set in a fantasy world. In 2008 the company was purchased by Intel but development of Project Offset continued. While little of the game's development was made public a couple of test videos were released on YouTube that looked very impressive.

We have been told by the Intel PR rep that the founders of Offset Software have launched Fractiv LLC, a new game development studio. A quick WHOIS check of fractiv.com (which aside from an email address has little on it) does show that the domain is owned by Sam McGrath, one of the founders of Offset Software. We have emailed McGrath and other Offset Software team members to find out more about Fractiv including if they have the rights to continue development of Project Offset at their new company.

Update: Sam McGrath has responded back to our inquires with this statement: "Yes, we have indeed parted ways with Intel and I, along with the other original founders of Offset, have started Fractiv. Unfortunately I can't say any more than that at this stage but I'm looking forward to answering your questions in the near future."

Dell's Alienware unit has gotten lots of great reviews, including one here at Big Download, for their M11x laptop. Today Alienware has revealed two big upgrades to the M11x that are being included as options. First, the M11x now has options to put in an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor in addition to the previous Core 2 Duo processor. Putting in either the i5 or i7 processor will naturally raise the starting price of the notebook although we have been told that the i5 processor still keeps the m11x at below $1,000.

The other major update is Nvidia Optimus, the new technology that will allow people who use the M11x laptop to switch between the integrated graphics and the laptop's Nvidia GT 335M graphics chip automatically if they are playing, say, Left 4 Dead 2. Previously switching between the two was done manually by hitting the F6 button.

PC gamers are now more likely to have a PC rig that supports at least a DirectX 10 video card, according to the latest hardware survey monthly update on the Steam PC game download service. The latest update shows that 56.47 percent of Steam PC users have either a DirectX 10 or DirectX 11-based video card with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Another 21.55 percent of Steam PC owners have a DirectX 10/11 supported card while still running Windows XP, which is DirectX 9 only.

The rest of the survey shows some expected results including Nvidia graphics card and Intel processors in the vast majority of PC systems. Systems with more than one GPU are in a very small minority; just 1.79 percent of systems have such a set-up.

Dell's Alienware unit made an impressive gaming PC laptop with the Alienware M11x (you can check out our review right here). At the moment the laptop uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor but it looks like the model may be getting a big processor upgrade very soon.

A recent YouTube video shows a Dell spokesperson showing off the Alienware M11x (You can check it out after the jump) and mentions fairly casually near the end that next month the product will get a Intel Core i3/5/7 processor upgrade. That will certainly boost the performance of the laptop although it might also impact battery life. Alienware is scheduled to appear at E3 in June and a hardware boost for the M11x would certainly be a good announcement to make at the show.

[Via Engadget]

If your PC is in need of an upgrade but you don't have some important stuff, like money, to buy some new parts, you still have some hope. This is the final reminder that we are running a giveaway that will give two of our readers an Intel Core i7-920 processor which is a perfect way to get your PC rig up to support multi-core features in new PC games.

Head over to our contest page for more info and to enter (if you are eligible of course). You only have a few more hours; the contest ends at 11:59 pm Eastern time tonight.

We launched our latest Intel processor contest giveaway back on Wednesday and as predicted lots of folks have already entered for a chance to win one of the two Intel Core i7 920 processors that we will give out to two of our loyal readers.

So if you want a chance to get one of the faster PCs chips, you have to head to our contest page in order to enter. As we always try to remind our readers, please be sure to read over our official contest rules before entering, particularly the part where you have to be 18 years of age or over and be a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). The deadline to enter is 11:59 pm ET on Monday.