Simon Bullen's Weblog

New Nvidia drivers for Crysis

For anyone who has downloaded the new Crysis demo and found it doesn't run as good as it should nvidia have released some new beta drivers to help you.

This is a very power hungry game !

windows XP drivers
windows Vista 32bit drivers
windows Vista 64bit drivers

Posted at 12:15PM Oct 29, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[0]

Private network for online gaming bypasses Internet bottlenecks

A Missouri startup called GameRail feels the pain of latency-challenged online video gamers, and has developed a private network that routes game traffic from PCs to about 10,000 servers hosted by online gaming companies. Essentially, it allows online gamers to bypass the Internet, the company claims.

For players of first-person shooter games, GameRail’s target market, “the higher the latency the slower the bullets and you can’t dodge out of the way,” says John Alden, vice president of business development. “With lower latency, you can shoot better, faster, and react faster.”

Click here for more

Posted at 04:49PM Aug 29, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[1]

Halo 2 - Vista Only !

The defeat of the Covenant in the first Halo game was only a temporary victory, as the alien attackers have renewed their mission to wipe out all of humanity. Despite the human military force's and Master Chief's efforts, the Covenant have breeched the Earth's defenses and have left its inhabitants in a dismal situation. In the midst of desperation, players assume the role of Master Chief and lead the resistance against the Covenant to save the people of Earth from a gruesome demise.

The long-awaited PC version of Bungie's FPS, Halo 2 offers the full single-player campaign and multiplayer maps of the original Xbox version, with the addition of the content in the Multiplayer Map Pack as well as a tool for building and customizing levels.

The game requires Windows Vista.

Posted at 09:50AM Apr 05, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[0]

Nintendo respond to Wii strap breakages

Games firm Nintendo has said it will replace all broken straps for it's Wii console, following customer complaints. The strap is connected to a motion sensitive remote which is used to control the on-screen action.

The announcement follows reports about the wrist straps breaking during use, leading to the controller slipping out of hands, smashing TVs and windows.

Nintendo said the straps do not present a problem if used correctly, but will still replace all broken ones for free.
The problem with the straps, originally reported as a major recall, affects all Nintendo Wiis sold worldwide and almost all units currently on shelves in shops. Nintendo has targeted sales of four million Wii consoles by the end of 2006.
No information was immediately available about how customers can return their Wii straps, but Nintendo said it would free of charge

Posted at 09:57AM Dec 15, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[1]

Wii

The Wii night which should have happed last Friday but was cancelled do to a colleges leaving do scheduled on the same evening happened last night. I already have had the "it rocks" phone calls from my mate so now it was time to test the console for my self.

I arrived at his house and saw the glow of the television through the front window, getting no response from the doorbell I myself in and was immediately hit by the heat and smell of electronics. I could tell that this television and console had been on for some time and my mate was too engrossed in playing legand of zelda than answering his door.

The console looks nice and tidy sitting vertically in its base, the controller sensor bar can hardly be seen sitting on top of the television, in fact it took me about an hour to notice it was there at all. The controllers look and feel well built but as has been reported the thin cord attaching the controller to the wrist looks very flimsy. The Nunchuck is an interesting gadget and in certain games gives your other hand plenty to do.

After prising my mate off the console, we went back to some simple yet entertaining games so I could learn the ropes.
Wii sports was loaded, this comprises of golf,baseball, boxing, tennis and bowling. Each player can build a caricature of them selves and use that in each game, these are called Mii's, (they can load these onto the handset and take them around there friends houses to compete against) The controller works great for all these sporting games, the most interesting was the bowling where a rotation of the wrist at the last minute can put a nice spin on the ball, tennis was fun and would be quite a laugh with 4 players, boxing was quite energetic and golf was quite true to life.

We then progressed onto Call of Duty 3, now I have never rated FPS games on consoles, these are best left to the PC and I have to admit that this is still true. The Wii console has managed to overcome some of the issues by using the controller with the Nunchuck but at points in the game I thought I was going to be sick as the screen roted wildly around and around, all in all not a good experience.

My rating of this console is good to excellent depending on the game you are playing, the Wii sports excels, Call of duty 3 sucks. Nice touches such as the Wii community (this is stuff like Wii e-mail and Wii news) will help build up the popularity of the console.All in all good clean family fun at a sensible price.

Posted at 10:06AM Dec 14, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[1]

Players have spent a depressing 1,500 years playing 2142

Today EA announced that, since its launch on October 18th, more than one million rounds of Battlefield 2142 have been played online. EA also pointed out the oddly depressing note that this number means more than 1,500 years worth of time have been spent playing the game.

The team at DICE is still hard at work on the game, making updates designed to refine the online experience. The latest patch is available for download on the Official Battlefield 2142 Website . The site will also host a series of behind-the-scenes glimpses of the DICE Live team.

Posted at 09:47AM Dec 12, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[3]

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo's Wii videogames console goes on sale at midnight tonight to UK gamers with all pre-orders snapped up.

Gamers started queuing outside HMV on Oxford Street in London on Tuesday and Nintendo expects the console to sell out on day one.

More than four million Wiis will be shipped globally this year but there are no specific figures for the UK.

The release comes as Nintendo advises gamers to be more careful when using its new motion-sensitive controller.

The firm has sent an e-mail to customers with further advice on how to use the console's controller.

"Hold the remote securely and avoid excessive motion during game play. If your hands become moist, stop and dry your hands," the company recommended.

Nintendo is taking a different approach to rivals Sony and Microsoft - focusing on casual games and fun, family titles.

Posted at 11:22AM Dec 07, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[1]

As good as Dilbert

This sums up true gamers:-

Posted at 09:13AM Nov 21, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[0]

Battlefield 2142

A last minute decision to have a boys gaming weekend led us to all going out and purchasing Battlefield 2142.

Bare in mind that this game was loaded onto 3 very different systems ranging from a old single core unit, my Ultra 20, and finally my mates AMD dual core unit, the whole set up was a disaster, up to the point where the 3 of us just sat there with a blank screen for over 10 minutes.

So what was wrong, well the software loaded with out issue onto each of the local machines, it was at the point where the software started to authenticate against EA's server where everything ground to a halt.

A quick google indicated there was a patch out already (when will they release a fully working game) so of we went and downloaded and installed the 1.1 thinking this could be causing the performance issue, but no, the EA server was taking ages per screen shot.

After at least 30 minutes two of us had given up and we were talking about returning the disks. So there was only one action left, Pizza and beer.

Bored with the EA server we played Flat Out for a bit and during a break I decided to get Battlefield one last chance. The difference was incredible, I was connected to the server and authenticated in seconds, and straight onto selecting an on line game. What was wrong before ? Who knows, but EA must have had some serious server issues as I have had no problems since setting things up or is there a serious issues with performance in setting up an EA account and logging the game ?

All I know is that the game is great, a bit like Star Wars in places but a cracking on line game which I have played for 2 days know and I am loving every minute.

Posted at 04:50PM Oct 30, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[2]

Spyware in EA games

EA games have included in-game advertising technology in thier latest battlefield game. This as you can guess is freaking a lot of gamers out. The EA packaging says:-

"The Software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide Inc. ("IGA") (the "Advertising Technology"). The purpose of the Advertising Technology is to deliver in-game advertisements to you when you use the Software while connected to the Internet. When you use the Software while connected to the Internet, the Advertising Technology may record your Internet Protocol Address and other anonymous information ("Advertising Data"). The Advertising Data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online game play. The Advertising Technology does not collect any personally identifiable information about you, and EA will not provide IGA with any of your personally identifiable information. The servers used by the Advertising Technology may, from time to time, be located outside your country of residence. If you are located within the European Union, the servers may be located outside the European Union. By installing and using the Software, you agree to: (i) the transfer of the Advertising Data to servers located outside your country of residence and, if applicable, outside the European Union; (ii) the collection and use of the Advertising Data as described in this Section; and (iii) the delivery of advertising and marketing content by the Advertising Technology. IF YOU DO NOT WANT IGA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE OR TRANSMIT THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, DO NOT INSTALL OR PLAY THE SOFTWARE ON ANY PLATFORM THAT IS USED TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET."

Well the last statement near enough kills why you would want the game in the first place. An EA spokesman is quoted as saying:-

"The advertising program in Battlefield 2142 does not access any files which are not directly related to the game. It does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, or surfing history. BF 2142 delivers ads by region. The advertising system uses a player's IP address to determine the region of the player, assisting to serve the appropriate ads by region and language. For instance, a player in Paris might be presented with ads in French. The information collected will not be repurposed for other uses. Battlefield 2142 also tracks "impression data" related to in-game advertisements: location of a billboard in the game, brand advertised, duration of advertisement impression, etc. This information is used to help advertisers qualify the reach of a given advertisement"

Posted at 09:56AM Oct 19, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |  Comments[2]

WoW

Back in March, Blizzard gleefully announced that 6 million gamers worldwide had subscribed to its hit massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. Now, not even one year later, the game has managed to nab another million players. The official announcement about WoW hitting 7 million players worldwide was made during the Austin Game Conference earlier this week.

WoW was launched back in November 2004. Since that time it has proven to be unstoppable in the MMO universe, with no one being able to successfully challenge its dominance. Blizzard's first expansion pack for the game, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, is due sometime in the near future.

Posted at 04:41PM Sep 08, 2006 by Simon Bullen in Gaming  |