ToC Gaming News Blog : All The Latest PC Gaming News

It's not official until Microsoft says it is, but the image above of the rumored Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse was just snagged off a German online store. Amazingly, the mouse arches its back for comfortable mousing before packing flat for easy transport.

 The mouse features touch-scrolling, a battery indicator, the ability to track on most any surface, and a 2.4GHz nano transceiver that no doubt plugs into your laptop's USB port. Yours soon for €69.99 ($69.95 rumored)... right, €0.99 more than Apple's Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad sells for in Germany. Ships in 5 to 10 business days according to notebooksbilliger so expect this to get official real quick.

We've known that proper Xbox Live gaming (powered by XNA) was coming to Windows Phone 7 devices, but we'd yet to see any of that thumb-spraining goodness in action besides a brief demo and a few developer videos. Well, Microsoft has finally come clean with details about its launch strategy for the platform, and from where we sit, it's definitely looking pretty promising. First off, the company has announced a full list of launch titles for WP7 handsets, including some familiar names and franchises like Castlevania, Halo: Waypoint, Star Wars, Crackdown, and Guitar Hero, alongside a handful of newer properties like the ultra-cute ilomilo, produced in-house by Microsoft Game Studios. In total, the company will launch with over 60 game titles, with new offerings appearing every week in the Xbox Live Marketplace, just like its big brother console version. We've got all the details, a full list of the launch titles, and our hands-on preview after the break -- so read on to get the scoop!





Besides just announcing some games today, Microsoft has also shown off the full feature set of Xbox Live integration in Windows Phone 7, and users of the service should be pleased to discover that there's not much missing from the version they know and love. Live on WP7 will allow for full avatar integration (we're talking fully rendered, interactive avatars) along with customization (clothes, accessories, and more). The company has even crafted an avatar-centric version of familiar phone utilities like flashlight apps and levels, adding some whimsy to what would normally be pretty staid affairs. Additionally, messaging, friend lists / status, achievements, and leaderboards (with friend comparisons) are all here as well, making for a pretty complete mobile Xbox Live experience. And also just like the console, every game will have a try-before-you buy demo to check out before spending your hard-earned cash.

Chrome to Phone isn't a new product -- we've been using it since May, in fact -- but Google's second mobile announcement today (behind Voice Actions) is that its continuous client app is now "official" and available to all users (with Android 2.2 Froyo) via Android Market. As it was before, websites can be pushed from the Chrome browser to your Android device, with certain apps (Maps, YouTube) taking over for the browser when contextually appropriate. Additionally, the code is open, which we're hoping means this Chrome extension will find its way to other browsers. The team is "looking into" bringing the capabilities to other mobile OSs (the iPhone was specifically asked), but don't get your hopes up: nothing's been submitted, and we didn't get the feeling it was an active push. Incredibly useful? Yes, yes indeed.

Downloads:http://code.google.com/p/chrometophone/


Source:Engadget

Today, we unveil the Hardened and Prestige editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops! Embedded below is a video introducing the RC-XD kill streak reward, which features in the Prestige Edition of the game:

Hardened Edition:

- Call of Duty: Black Ops full game
- Premium, special-edition SteelBook™ case
- Limited edition Black Ops collector’s medal w/display case
- 4 additional co-op maps not included in the standard edition of the game
- Special Black Ops Xbox Live or PlayStation Home avatar outfit

Prestige Edition:

The Prestige Edition is what every hardcore Call of Duty fan needs. It includes everything in the Hardened Edition, along with a real remote-control vehicle modelled after the in-game RC-XD kill streak reward! The RC-XD’s features include:

- Video & audio sent wirelessly to remote transmitter (200 ft. range)
- 2” backlit TFT 220 x176 colour screen built into RC controller
- Digital proportional steering and throttle
- Independent suspension
- High and low speed settings
- Custom pistol grip style RC controller
- Display stand

 

  

The RC-XD included in the Prestige Edition is a fully functioning surveillance device that is remotely controlled and transmits wireless video and audio back to the RC controller in real time. Every detail is modelled after the in-game RC-XD kill streak vehicle.

Both the Hardened and Prestige editions are in limited supply, so pre-order your copy today!

Source: http://www.callofduty.com

Sony Ericsson to introduce Android 3.0 gaming platform and PSP Go-like smartphone

There's no question that gaming on the Android platform has heretofore been relatively underwhelming, but that looks like it's all about to change. It seems that Sony Ericsson -- a company that has yet to even introduce an Android 2.0 device -- is at work on a project to redefine gaming on Google's mobile platform. We now know (via a trusted source) that the company is actively and heavily developing a brand new gaming platform, ecosystem, and device (possibly alongside Google) which are already in the late stages of planning. And we've got the goods on it. 

Here's what we can tell you about the hardware: if you're a gaming fan, this is exactly the kind of phone you've been waiting for. The device is described as cross between the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go-- in other words, it's a landscape slider with game controls in place of the typical QWERTY keyboard. The D-pad is here, but instead of the small joystick, the device will have what was described as a "long touch pad" for analog controls, along with standard PSP buttons and shoulder buttons. The phone has a large display, described as being between 3.7 and 4.1 inches with WVGA or better resolution, a 5 megapixel camera that we're told might not be final, and it'll likely have a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU on board. The phone is mostly black with some silver highlights, and the gamepad area is white / silver in color. Apparently it's currently branded as a Xperia device, but it looks like it will carry PlayStationbranding as well. Those who've seen the phone say it looks "pretty damn sexy." The mockup above probably doesn't do the actual hardware justice, but it should give you an idea of what you'll be dealing with.





On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games. That content will be initially accessible only by the halo device, but from the sounds of things, these titles might be made available to other Android phones if their specs and button layouts meet requirements. Games will be graphically in the range of PSX or PSP games, meaning true 3D gaming is headed to Android. Titles currently being shown off seem to be focused around some older PSX as well as new PSP offerings, withGod of War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and LittleBigPlanet possibly on tap, and future plans for titles which incorporate augmented reality features.

In terms of release, it's possible that the phone and ecosystem could be introduced as early as October of this year, but we have yet to confirm.

Right now we're working on getting even more detail about the phone and partnership, but we can tell you now that this is not a random rumor -- we have reason to believe that what we've heard and seen is real and coming to market. It makes perfect sense in a way -- Google gets a much-needed push into the gaming and entertainment space for Android, while Sony (via its partnership with Ericsson) finally delivers the PlayStation phone users have been wanting. We see it as a major win for both companies and the consumer... and we always need another distraction. Stay tuned to this space for updates as we get them, and in the meantime, start socking away the pennies.

Source: Engadget

So we have seen the new in game play from the new Call of Duty Black Ops. Now lets take a closer look at what's on offer.

1. You get a remote controlled vehicle for a three kill streak as seen later in the video

2. Here we see the payback kill, for killing someone who has already taken you out.

3. A 4 kill streak gets you a care package, which i assume contains some random perk

4. Buzz Kill means you end another players kill streak

5. Here it looks like a 5 kill streak gets you a guided missile, which you will see later ;)

6. Skewer, we see the player here uses a Ballistic Knife that can be fired from close range.

7. The knife is then recovered and used as a traditional knife…

8. The knife is then put together to be used again, and the player is awarded a back stabber award

9. Here we see a twin rotor helicopter at the top of the screen and on the radar…

10. You will see the helicopter is delivering a care package in this shot

11. Finally remember i mentioned about the guided missile earlier? That a look at centre of the picture, above right of the tele lens, you will see the missile appear from behind the building on the right…

12. Now the missile has rounded the building and is homing in on the player. You can see it just below the One Shot One Kill splash

13. OK so now you can see it, say goodnight Mr. sniper!…

14. So there’s nowhere to hide :)

15. Finally something very different for COD, it looks like there’s a Built in video recorder/editor with screenshot capabilities. This video editor appears to offer video clips saved into different segments with customisable names for each clip

So there you have it, there looks to be plenty of new features and fun options in the new Call of Duty. Don’t forget there is to be a full multiplayer reveal on September 1.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be getting dedicated servers, according to some sources. This will be a big thumbs up from all PC Call of Duty fans. The question of whether there will be mod tools has yet to surface, but its looking good.

As for the trailer, on first inspection it looks very nice indeed, so fingers crossed from all PC gamers.

Keep up to date on all the latest Call of Duty Black Ops news on our Forum
WARNING our forums and servers are over 18s only

posted by Mad Dog

Here are some stunning new wallpapers for the eagerly awaited Call of Duty Black Ops

At the beginning of each project, the team at Treyarch digs in and goes to work on engine enhancements with a focus on supporting the demands of the new environments and game play for our next title. For Black Ops, it was important to the team to have incredible photo-realistic lighting, huge draw distances, explosive destruction and effects, and mind-blowing character details.

We completely re-tooled the lighting system from soup to nuts, integrated texture streaming which makes levels like “Payback” possible, and provided our artists the tools and platform they needed to create stunning characters with detail down to their pores! We also went big overhauling the physics, jungle, water, and fire tech – the list goes on and on. You can see what we’re talking about from our gallery, but no screenshot even comes close to what you’ll be experiencing November 9th 2010!

All 14 can be downloaded at HERE

posted by Mad Dog

I once knew a guy who kept an actual database of all the women he dated so that he could always remember the relevant details about them and prevent awkward mixups. The DateMate iPhone app would've been ideal for him.

The basic idea of DateMate is that it allows you to enter details about your partners—birthdays, contact information, silly things that you should recall—and track your encounters with them. The app offers a calendar so that you can keep track of whose bed you were in on which night and a way to rank the dates and create notes about them. Once you've got a bunch of dates under your belt, you can even generate graphs of your activities and compare frequency, quality, and progress.   

DateMate may seem a bit sleazy to those of us who prefer monogamy, but it appears to be a well-designed app that might make life easier for those who have somewhat open arrangements with their partners.

Naturally......this App is of no use to Irmo:P

Source:Gizmodo

KP's 50MB Broadband

:finger: 

I see that Paddy Twat has bloody fallen asleep on his cunting keyboard again !

When will he learn eh ?  lol.  Cunt aint I moonz. :finger: