Casual Friday: Stream Crysis on an Eee PC

You can play your PCs games wherever and whenever you want--even on an underpowered mini-laptop--thanks to streaming (and one day, cloud computing).

Welcome back to PC World's weekly celebration of slack. So get your geek on as we examine remote-access gaming, playing Crysis in odd places, and the future of online games. (Melodramatic enough for you?)

Disclaimer: Hey, I was due for a remotely serious column. I can always go back to something screwy for next week.

Nevermind that PricewaterhouseCoopers's "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012" report says that online games will explode--from $6.6 billion last year to $14.4 billion in 2012. (Hot damn, that's a lot of gold farming.) You want a piece of the future? Keep an eye on companies looking to stream games to your computer.


Right now, I'm playing flippin' Crysis (yes, that computer-killing, power-hungry PC game) in all its glory, on a mini-laptop. How is this even happening? Allow me to introduce you to remote-access gaming software, StreamMyGame.
Stream My...What?

Remote-access software is nothing new. It's been around for ages doing all sorts of sexy tasks such as ... well ... remote backup! Setting up record commands! Accessing spreadsheets! Man, I could go on with that stuff all day.

Trying to play games over a remote connection, though, is another story. All sorts of latency issues stop you from getting the instantaneous reactions required. Both audio and video stream from the game PC to the client device. Your commands--whether you're typing or trying to shoot--need to go back upstream and over the Internet to the gaming PC. And all of that needs to happen in a fraction of a second--otherwise, the game is completely unplayable. Is game streaming possible from your home machine? Yes. Here's a running demo of Crysis and Quake 4 playing through a network connection on an Asus Eee PC mini-laptop. (No need to sit through the whole thing. There are two money-shot moments, at around the 3-minute and 6.5-minute marks.)



Trust me: Nothing's better than nursing carpal tunnel while trying to play FPS games on a microscopic keyboard! Sound tempting? A free version of the software at StreamMyGame allows players to stream between Windows XP/Vista machines and to Linux devices. Are you among the hard-core who have installed Linux on a PlayStation 3? You can stream to that, as well. Initial setup isn't too painful, and once you're done, you can add games that you want to stream and play, or even record and broadcast to YouTube.

Obviously the software will work well in a wired local network, but the question that I posed to StreamMyGame CEO Richard Faria is how it would work if I tried setting it up at, say, a coffee shop with Wi-Fi access. (Hint: I tried pulling off the feat at the local java house--no such luck.)
Clearing Some Hurdles

As Faria sees it, a couple of hurdles remain. Clearly, the hardware needs to be present. Having a good CPU and GPU on the gaming computer goes without saying. Both 802.11g and 11n networks can carry the data, but the big problem right now lies with your friend and mine, the Internet service provider. Oh, sure, we can download stuff at crazy-fast speeds, but sending things upstream is a whole other story. Broadband providers state numbers that you'd be hard-pressed to hit in real life.

A lot of this issue gets solved as newer low-latency tech comes into play, but Faria claims that his software will work. "If you have a good PC and a wired LAN or 802.11n Wi-Fi, StreamMyGame will work well around the house, enabling you to access games and applications from any PC in your home." Faria adds that it will stream games at up to 800-by-600-pixel resolution over an 802.11g network around the home. Outside the home, there are way too many variables--well, that and we're still waiting on WiMax (and 4G, I suppose) to show up. (Intel used StreamMyGame as a poster child for WiMax during its Computex 2008 keynote).

Another company is looking to stream Second Life to cell phones, and then there's the announcement of Trion World Network. In case you missed it, those folks announced a cloud-computing model that will deliver on an often-discussed idea: server-side gaming with a paper-thin client looking into the game space. The cool bit there is that the technology could provide different windows and experiences into the same scalable server. Imagine playing a game that would shoot to your cell phone, read your GPS location, and further immerse you in a bigger virtual world.

Right now we're tap-dancing around the fringe of what is possible. Sony's PlayStation Portable received updates to support game play over a network last year. And there I was, streaming PlayStation 1 games from PS3 onto a PSP.


A more recent example is the indie game PixelJunk Monsters, which is available over the PlayStation Network. I can play that game on the PS3 or stream it to my PSP when I'm at home. But I want to be able to hit the same speeds wherever I roam, lag-free. Unfortunately, the technology isn't quite ready yet.

We're getting there, though, and if the numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers are any indication, I'll have gaming possibilities wherever I go (God help my wife). Until then, it's back to hand cramps and Crysis hunched over a mini-laptop in my apartment. What I do for my "art."

Senior Writer Darren Gladstone geeks out over gadgets, games, and odd uses for humdrum tech. In other words, he's a nerd--and he's okay with that.

AMV hell 0 Pacman

a funny a$$ clip from the evil AMVHell 0

LOVE HINA FLASH GAME

A little while a go i found this flash game of Love Hina called Love Hina Sim Date RPG .
I've played it and it's good at first but get boring really quick.



Free Flash Games

download

CLAYMORE

The North American distributor Funimation has announced its license of the Claymore anime series at noon CST today. This 26-episode television series adapted Norihiro Yagi's fantasy adventure manga about a half-human woman who hunts shape-shifting yōma creatures on a medieval land. It aired in Japan from April to September of last year.

Hiroyuki Tanaka, an animation director on the Vampire Hunter (Night Warriors - Darkstalkers' Revenge) video series and an assistant director on the Ninja Scroll television series, directed the animators at Madhouse on this project. Yasuko Kobayashi (Shakugan no Shana, Witchblade) supervised the scripts, and Takahiro Umehara (Tenjho Tenge, Beyblade) designed the characters. Viz Media has been releasing the original manga in North America, with its 11th volume scheduled for March.

All the Detail for Rainbow Six vegas

 


Details
A world-exclusive first-look of the game appeared in the January edition of the Official Xbox Magazine. One of the biggest announcements is that Logan Keller, the lead character from the previous game, has been removed in favor of having the player create his own character to play through the campaign. The player will assume the role of Bishop, a new member of the Rainbow squad who is "soaring through the ranks." The game is billed as "part sequel, part prequel,"[6] as the events of the campaign run both before and concurrently to the story of Logan Keller, and continue after where the first game concluded.


Features
New features include an enhanced version of the Persistent Elite Creation system. Players can now customize their character with experience points earned in both single-player and multiplayer. There is also a new stat-tracking feature which observes how players choose to play, unlocking new weapons and equipment based on their playing styles. There are 11 new weapons, 13 multiplayer maps, 2 new game modes, and a tweaked ranking system, as well as improvements to the online functionality to make it easier to find online sessions. In addition, players can now join matches that are already in progress.

In single-player, the developers claim to have vastly improved teammate AI, so that now teammates bound and cover each other as they advance. They also have several new commands, including the ability to suppress an area or throw a grenade at a specific point. In co-op, players will now be able to experience the full single-player campaign -- the previous game skipped several cut-scenes and all of the in-game media (such as the picture-in-picture talking head briefings given out during each mission and Logan's responses to the NPC characters). As a consequence, however, the co-op experience has been reduced to a maximum of two players, down from four in the first Rainbow Six Vegas.[8] Unlike the co-op mode in the original Rainbow Six: Vegas, the AI teammates will remain in the game during co-op and can be given orders and go-codes by Player 1.

It has also been revealed that the campaign will now focus on the seedier side of Vegas, with more outdoor combat and daytime missions. Also, certain missions will now see a real-time day/night cycle. Certain kinds of cover is now able to be shot through and some of it is also destructible.[9] The player can now sprint for a short distance using the left bumper. Rather than two difficulty modes, the game now has three.

An additional system implemented in the game is the "Advanced Combat Enhancement and Specialization" or ACES, where players will be rewarded with different weapons based on tactics used in the game.[6] The ACES system is divided into three parts: Marksmanship, Assault, and Close-Quarter Combat. Every single kill the player makes is organized into one of these three categories and scored based upon how the kill was performed (for example a headshot would count toward Marksmanship, or shooting through a wall would count toward assault). By getting a high enough score in a category the player unlocks a specific item for that category. For example, the Assault category might reward the player with a new type of grenade, while the Marksmanship category might reward the player with a new type of sniper rifle. Even though the ACES system goes across modes there are certain rewards that can only be unlocked in single or multiplayer.


New Weapons

The 11 new weapons in Vegas 2 were revealed in an official post on the official forums[10] and are as follows:
Walther P99 (Pistol)
Steyr AUG PARA (SMG)
QCW-05 (SMG)
Škorpion vz. 61 (vz. 83) (SMG)
FN FNC (Assault)
SA80 L85A2 (Assault)
AK-74 AKS-74U (Assault)
Barrett M468 (Assault)
Mossberg 500 (Shotgun)
Accuracy International Arctic Warfare (Sniper)
SR-25 (Sniper)
FAMMAS-74 (Assault)

Weapons are unlocked by the ACES system and experience points.



Limited Collector's Edition
A limited collector's edition of the game was unveiled in a special trailer for the game. This collector's edition comes with tips from the Frag Dolls, a poker chip keychain and a special boxart for the game.

Preview: CES Impressions: Fracture

One of the most creatively bizarre shooters this year, Fracture is literally groundbreaking


One of a handful of interesting titles that LucasArts has slated for 2008, Fracture has its own draw: you can "fracture" the earth. That's the focus of this shooter.

Set in a bizarre world futuristic underworld, Fracture takes advantage of an interesting new feature that allows you, the player, to deform the ground beneath your very own feet.

It's 2090 and globing warming has led to some rather nasty stuff, particularly genetically engineered humans and California-led tectonic weapons research. The main character in Fracture, Jet Brody, former seedy gang-banger who is now helping the military fight the good fight against a rogue group of the Pacificans.



Armed with a fancy, high-tech armor suit, Jet looks prepared for battle. In this particular demo, he was dropped under the San Francisco Bay to get to the Pacificans. The developers on hand from Day 1 made sure to use plenty of terrain deforming maneuvers to show off the handy feature in a number of ways.

The simplest way to mess with the earth is to use the nifty "entrencher" tool that can easily boost up the ground beneath you. But other guns and explosives can also mess with the ground, including grenades. The entrencher is the most focus and precise way to deform; it's especially useful in solving environmental puzzles like reaching creating vertical humps to access out-of-reach areas.


Jet's suit provides a handle rechargeable shield, and looks ultra cool. But other than its protective purposes, LucasArts is keeping the lid sealed on anything else to suit might be able to do, or even how it came about.

In the demo, Jet had to disable some guns and most of the action that ensued showed off the deformation technology. Other than making the ground move up, you can use it to move beneath the surface to create tunnels or holes to work under a physical obstruction. Even cooler is that you can fire your entrencher directly at your feet to do a nifty little hop maneuver--something that wasn't even intended by the designers. Oh, and you can also pull the ground out beneath enemies' feet, sending them flying like rag dolls.

Other highlights included a grenade-like device that sucked foes right into a vortex, and loads of more traditional gun-power that served the more conventional way to mow people down.

Fracture is lined up for release this summer.

Game Informer raises curtain on Resistance 2

According to Game Informer transcriptions provided by NeoGAF, Resistance 2 will feature two campaign modes: one single-player story and a second co-operative plot supporting either two players offline, or up to eight players online.

Online multiplayer is said to support up to 60 players, and includes standard infantry, special ops, and medic player types for increased strategy. Additionally, the game will support "mobile phone quality" voice chat, boss fights, new vehicles, and online stat tracking.

Writers strike boosts video game usage by 26%

The online survey, which sampled an unnamed number of respondents ages 18-49, found that 43 percent of Americans are watching more DVDs. Another 26 percent say they are spending more time playing video games.

Additionally, the study found that 94 percent of Americans are aware of the Hollywood writers strike, which has largely put a stop to new episodes, programs and movie screenwriting.

According to GamesRadar, Crytek personnel have all but confirmed a conversion of Crysis for PS3.

"The game looks to be a port of the PC original plus some extra modes and features, a kind of Crysis 1.5," reports the consumer gaming site. Additionally, GamesRadar says an Xbox 360 version will not be made due to "technical reasons."

Crysis is currently the most impressive-looking game on the market, at least in terms of its graphics technology. GamePro gave the PC game a score of 4.75 out of 5.

Negima episode 1 part one- ENGLISH