Leipzig Games Convention Closes Its Doors

A few years ago in 2002, there arose a haven for gamers from around the world. A place where they could all gather and take a look at how the gaming industry was doing and what new things were coming out. The Leipzig Games Conference started out small with only around 80,000 visitors, 166 exhibitors, 3000 professional visitors, 750 journalists, and occupied a space of 30,000m. By 2008, just six years later, the convention had grown to 203,000 visitors, 547 exhibitors, 14,600 professional visitors, 3,800 journalists, and occupied a space of 115,000m!

With such a great turnout of people over the years you would think that the Leipzig GC would be operating for years to come. However, at the end of the 2008 convention, the Industry consortium BIU announced not to back a games convention in 2009 in Leipzig. Organizers of the convention have canceled the event citing an increased competition on the German trade fair market. In turn they announced a new convention, an online games-focused show instead. GAMESCom of Cologne, Germany, has been announced to be the successor to Leipzig’s GC.

A defriant Wolfgang Marzin, CEO of the Leipzig Trade Fair, stated that “if the industry is again in search of a platform for console and PC games and hardware with the know-how of the GC — Games Convention, we will immediatley be available.”

In talking about the new online event, Marzin stated, “We will be combining the real fair, that is, the offline event, with an online event. This means that millions of gamers are linked in on the internet and can take part in the Games Convention Online in Leipzig live. The Games Convention Online will host tens of thousands of visitors in Leipzig, and several million in the whole world.”

Needless to say many gamers may weep at this heartbreaking news of one of the biggest and best gaming conventions in the world closing its doors. with a final salute we say a fond farewell to the Leipzig Games Convention.

written by Zack Duncan

Empire: Total War

Empire: Total War is the newest game in the Total War series developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. This installment, like the previous in the series, consists of two broad areas of gameplay: a turn-based campaign map that allows the user to move armies across the globe, conduct diplomacy, trade, and other tasks needed to run their faction, and a real-time battle mode that enables players to direct the course of any battle that takes place.

This game is big. It offers approximately 50 factions from the eighteenth century including the likes of Great Britain, Sweden, the Ottoman Empire, and Prussia just to name a few but only 12 will be available at the beginning with the others becoming available as you progress. The game also features the emergence of key nations during the game like Revolutionary France and the great United States. A story-driven campaign mode called “Road to Independence” will also be featured in the game which centers around the player controlling the British colonization of America. The campaign is broken down into 3 missions: The developing of Jamestown, the fight of the French and Indian War, and ending with the War of Independence.

Most of the gameplay works the same way as the previous Total War games, you can fight on land or by sea. However, in Empire: Total War you can control your battles on land and sea in real-time for the first time ever. In the previous games, naval battles were resolved automatically by the games AI taking into consideration number of ships, type of ships, armament, and crew to decide the victor. Another feature is that players can participate in recreations of major historical battles from the 18th century and early 19th century outside the campaign mode.

The warfare in Empire: Total War ha received a boost to realism from past games. IN this installment, players must use 18th century tactics and formations to defeat their enemies. The terrain also offers to the gameplay. Weather and terrain impact how the battle is fought. Players can lay seige to settlements replacing open field conflict with street fighting. Each unit has a set moral which can increase if they battle is going well or decrease if negative things happen like the loss of many troops, the loss of regimental colors, or the defeat of a general. When a unit’s moral is adequately minimized, the loosing faction will rout and attempt to flee.  Some new battlefield elements include the ability for units to hide behind walls or inside buildings, making certain points of strategic importance, field defenses can be set up on the field in real time, infantry units can scale small objects like walls or fences and weapons that use gunpowder are prone to incidents.

Overall Empire:total War looks to be a good game. I have not played any game in the Total War series and I know this will be my first. You can pick up and play this game sometime this March.

written by: Zack Duncan

Sapphire HD 4850 X2 – Dual GPU Graphics Card

Released last November as one of ATI’s intermediary graphic cards between the HD 4870 and HD 4870 X2, the HD 4850 X2 is a product designed as a great mid-ranged card.  Boasting two GPU’s with 800 stream process units, 256-bit memory each, and a combined total of 2GB on-board memory the HD 4850 X2 is not a card to be taken lightly.  If you think the HD 4870 is a bit slow while the HD 4870 X2 is overkill, then this may be the exact card you are looking for.

In a series of benchmark tests conducted by Neo Seeker, the HD 4850 X2 consistently beat one of its major competitors, the GTX 280 which is only a single-gpu card.  Among other cards tested for comparison were the BFG GTX 295, Palit HD4870X2, VisionTek HD 4870, VisionTek HD3870X2 OC, VisionTek HD 4850, and the HD 4850+ HD 3870.  Along with the benchmark tests, several games were run in order to compare frame rates and performance including Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Furmark, World in Conflict, Far Cry 2, X3: Terran Conflict, Devil May Cry 4, Bioshock, and Unreal Tournament 3.

Click here for the benchmarking results of the Sapphire HD 4850 X2. The testing rig is as follows:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 at 3.0 GHz
• Motherboard:  Asus P6T Deluxe
• Memory: 3 gigabytes of Quimonda DDR3-1066 triple channel
• Power Supply: Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000W
• Hard Drive: 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA, w/16 MB cache
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U 12
• OS: Vista-64,SP1

The Sapphire HD 4850 X2 is currently being sold for $299 at many major online retailers and has dropped by $100 since its November release and has become a very affordable card. However, one major consideration you should take is the amount of power required to run this card. The card itself takes one 6 pin and one 8 pin PCIe power connector and it is recommended that you use a 650 watt power supply. Regardless, if you are in the market for a high-end card capable of supporting high resolutions but are looking to save some money, consider the 4850 X2.  It is a very capable card as seen by the test results from Neo Seeker.

IGN’s game of the year Sins of a Solar Empire

This years IGN PC Awards had Sins of a Solar Empire becoming a surprise winner taking home PC game of the year. Sins of a Solar Empire also took home first in almost every field it was entered in including Best Strategy Game, Best New IP, Most Innovative Design, and Game of the Year.

Sins of a Solar Empire is one of those games that can make you go without sleep for days. It delivers a unique and incredibly addictive experience to the already packed strategy game.

The odd thing is sins of a solar empire was not the highest rated game in 2008, scoring an 8.9 by IGN, 8.5 by press average, and a 7.6 by user reviews. Seems a little odd for a game that won so many prestigious awards. Here is what IGN had to say for their pick of PC Game of the Year.

“This is a controversial choice, to be sure, as many games scored higher than Sins of a Solar Empire. Yet during our discussions it was the one game we kept coming back to; considering it shipped way back in February that was telling. This is the game that we may have easily played the most in 2008. It’s that much fun. It’s also a game that has had incredible post-release support in the form on free enhancements and additions from developer Ironclad Studios, which proved to be the little studio that could. Thanks to its wildly original and fresh take on RTS and its compelling gameplay that kept us up late at nights, this is our PC game of the year.” Source

Other nominies for game of the year included Fallout 3, GTA 4, Left 4 Dead, and Warhammer Online. I think it is good to see such a highly successful game come from such a new company and I hope to see more great games from Stardock.

Duke Nukem forever shipping in 2009?

Duke Nukem Forever has become somewhat of a joke in the game industry. It has been in production for about 12 years and 3D Realms has kept a tight lid on information on the development of the new game, with only very sparse updates on their website, but a recent Tweet on Twitter by developer George Broussard alludes to a 2009 release date on the new Duke Nukem game.

Game developers often say “Cutting is shipping”. We begin this year with a vengeance and a chainsaw.

This got the members of the 3D Realms forums fired up, attempting to interpret what he meant. The general consensus is that 3D Realms is trimming the unnecessary features and planning on a release date this year.

Razer Mamba gaming mouse claims to be “lag free” wireless

Razer, at the recent CES in Las Vegas, unveiled the upcoming Mamba mouse with Razer Synapse™ on-board memory that lets gamers store and bring their mouse settings and gaming macros wherever they go.

The Mamba mouse will run on the 5600DPI Razer Precision™ 3.5G Laser sensor and has seven independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons.

The battery will last about 14 hours with continuous use, and it can also be connected with a wire and charged while you are using it. It will be available in February 2009 with a retail price of $129.99.

Logitech G9x laser mouse focuses on customization

With a weight tuning system, color changing LEDs, and interchangable grips, the newly announced Logitech G9x seems to be one of the most customizable gaming mice on the market.

The mouse comes with a wide load grip, which has a satin feel and a bigger shape, and a precision grip, which Logitech says has DryGrip technology and a smaller shape. The grips can be swapped out, or you can order an ID Grip with your own custom image from Logitech for an additional fee.
The mouse also features on the fly adjustable sensitivty from 200-5,000 dpi. The LEDs in the mouse can be changed to a wide array of colors. It has onboard memory capable of storing 5 profiles that contain your macros, dpi settings, and LED colors.

The G9x also comes with a weight cartridge that can be inserted into the mouse if you prefer it to be heavier or lighter. Also included are 28 grams of metal weights that can be put into the cartridge.

The G9x has a MSRP of $99.99, but is not yet available for order.

Logitech G19 keyboard boasts color LCD panel

The G19 has a new 320×240 color LCD display that will show info on game stats, system information, VOIP communication, and more. It is also capable of playing back video and displaying slideshow images. Gamers will be happy to know that it supports up to 5 buttons being pressed at the same time. It has a special gaming mode, where the windows and context menu keys are disabled. It supports 12 programmable G keys with 3 macros each. “If you take gameplay seriously, you want the Logitech G19 on your side”, says the Logitech web page for the upcoming G19 gaming keyboard, and you will definitely need to be a serious gamer to plop down the $199.99 MSRP.