Have Laptop Will Travel

PS3’s Home Service delayed, no price cuts announced

Originally posted on September 24, 2007 @ 1:25 am

One of the biggest aces up the sleeve of Sony in terms of the current console wars is the release of their much touted 3D Home online service for the Playstation 3. This new feature will allow players to create their very own characters and content. Anticipation for Home has been high especially since it was reported that it is going to be launched this fall.

But, predictably, Sony announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2007 that it is delaying the release of Home until next year. The company, through Sony Computer Entertainment  (SCE) Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai, said the reason for the delay was to further improve the service’s product quality. Hirai said that since the service will have to offer a number of different functionalities in many regions in the world and they want to launch it at a level where they can meet the high expectations of people.

Another disappointment was the failure of Sony to give price cuts for the PS3. The biggest gripe about the console is its high price and consumers were hoping that a price drop would be inevitable. Instead, Hirai said that they will be strengthening their title lineup to attract more customers.

As an eventual PS3 buyer, I am hoping that Sony will be able to get its act together soon in order to really attract customers. I hope I won’t get disappointed.

Bioshock to have two sequels

Originally posted on September 12, 2007 @ 5:55 pm

I haven’t even bought the video card I was eyeing in order to finally play Bioshock on my PC yet but I already have to anticipate two more sequels to the hit game.

According to Bioshock maker Take Two Interactive, the company is already considering “bi-annual” titles that will continue the Bioshock story.

The company is not afraid that they may dilute the market too much with its franchise because of the prolific scheduling. According to Strauss Zelnick, Take Two chairman, the two-year period is just right. He cited Grand Theft Auto, a franchise that has been following roughly the same schedule but has maintained its popularity, as a great example of how it can really work. Zelnick feels that Bioshock is turning out to have what it takes to be another important gaming franchise and they want to maximize its chances of becoming one.

Gamers driven to “Rage”

Originally posted on August 6, 2007 @ 8:16 am

As seminal computer games go, Doom is probably one of the grand daddies of the gaming industry. It’s right up there with Pong, Pacman and the first Command and Conquer as seminal games that defined gaming. Of course, the success and popularity of Doom meant that iD Software, the creators of the game, became an overnight icon. There is now a certain level of prestige attached to any game made by iD and the expectations for any game coming from the company is just insane.

Also read: Skyrim vs Fallout

It was, therefore, quite understandable for both fanboys and gamers to go crazy over iD Software’s recent unveiling of its newest game, Rage. The game revolves around the premise of fighting a corrupt government in a post apocalyptic setting. Rage is expected to be a multi platform release, with Windows, Mac, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. The game will be using an all new graphics engine and this alone will set excitement levels to stratospheric levels because iD games are best known for the high quality of its graphics.

There are still no announced release dates for Rage, which also highlighted another of iD’s well established characteristics, the reputation for long development cycles and a penchant to break scheduled release dates. I hope that this would be the one game where they will not announce any delays.

Asus releases new upgradeable notebook

Originally posted on July 31, 2007 @ 10:27 pm

I know I’ve talked about gaming notebooks yesterday but having read this new gaming notebook from Asus — I just have to write about it.

I am quite excited by the Asus C90 because of the company’s claim that it is upgradeable (Asus has even decided to market it as a “tailor made” notebook computer). The machine, which has a 15.4 inch widescreen monitor capable of displaying a resolution of 1680 x 1050 has a Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor. Asus said that this is of the desktop variety.

What is quite interesting about the C90 though is that the processor can actually be overclocked. This is the first time I’ve heard of an overclockable notebook computer. Asus said that the C90 can reach up to 2.93Ghz. What makes this feat even possible is the Turbo Gear technology that does the job of keeping the machine cool. It does this through fan control and thermal module technologies that are in place.

Asus has really made the notebook’s innards easily accessible. It is easy to swap the CPU, the graphics card, RAM, the hard disk and even the optical drive. This feature really drives home the fact that it has also entered the desktop replacement territory.

Other great features of the C90 include a built in 2 megapixel rotating CMOS camera with a face traking capability, a finger print scanner and a tv tuner.

Now who wouldn’t want to get one of these babies?

HP to ship 20-inch gaming notebook

Originally posted on July 30, 2007 @ 11:59 pm

The mobile gaming sector is one of the fastest growing in the mobile computing industry. A growing number of gamers are seeing the potentials of gaming on the go and with the prices of laptop parts that are geared towards the high performance demands of game graphics steadily dropping, gaming laptops are now within reach of middle level buyers.

With Dell acquiring the renowned gaming computer manufacturer Alienware, the competition in the mobile gaming laptops is becoming more frenzied. Manufacturers are constantly figuring out the right mix of performance and price that will appear to a majority of computer users and hardcore gamers.

Even Hewlett Packard is getting in on the game with the announcement in last January’s CES that they will be coming out with a gaming notebook. In fact, the HP HDX was unveiled in that event. Now more than six months later, the company is finally listing the product as ready for shipping.

The initial listing the HDX is at $2,999 but the machine – all 20 inches of it (we’re talking about the monitor) powered by the Intel Santa Rosa platform – will more likely cost $4,500 when you factor in all of the add-ons and extras. The price point means that if you are not a hardcore gamer or if you have a cluttered desk that you cannot hope to reclaim space for this monster then you’ll most likely pass up on it. Actually based on preliminary reviews it looks like you’ll need to have big muscles in order to lug this giant of a “notebook” around.