Category Archives: hardware

Epic Games vice president Mark Rein has told G4 that the firm plans to unveil Unreal Engine 4 later this year. Speaking with the site during DICE 2012, Rein was quoted as saying: “People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have.” G4 expects more on the firm’s engine to he shown at DICE later today. If the firm is showing anything like it did at GDC 2011 with its Samaritan tech demo, then, wow.

Prague-based developer Warhorse has announced it’s closed a licensing deal for Crytek’s CryEngine 3, which the firm will use to develop its unannounced RPG. Warhorse said the debut title from the studio will combine “open-world experience with a rich story and innovative gameplay elements.” Founded last summer, Warhorse is comprised of former members of 2K Czech and Bohemia Interactive as well as Dragon’s Lair author Martin Klíma.

Resident Evil: Revelations topped Media Create’s software charts this week, after debuting in second place to Armored Core V last week. On the hardware side of things, Vita’s rebound the week prior was short-lived, as sales of the handheld fell 1,801 units week-over-week.

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Alienware has defended the £700 price tag on the compact X51 gaming PC, which represents a substantial premium on the cost of its components.

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A 2010 Sony patent dug-up by VentureBeat shows what looks to be a touchscreen handheld controller similar to the one Nintendo introduced for Wii U.

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PS Vita have rebounded slightly in Japan after week-over-week declines since launch, and the new handheld should send Namco a thank you card for the resurgence, as it was due to Tales of Innocence R’s debut which did it. Over on Media Create’s weekly software chart, the Tales game wasn’t the only debut in the top three, as Armored Core V and Resident Evil Revelations took the number one and second place spots, respectively.

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“Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft [won't] disappear from the gaming market; quite the opposite. They are now, and will be for many years, a driving force in our market; however, the way they operate will probably evolve into a somewhat different role. I strongly believe the big console makers of today will have a big impact on the games industry tomorrow, but it will not take a piece of hardware between the gamer and the screen for them to do so. Maybe we’ll see a Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft “hub” integrated in TVs or their own OS included in the TV; let’s not forget the Google TVs that have already seen their first generation and the oft-rumored Apple television set (not to be confused with Apple TV). As a content producer, I am really excited to see what happens on the hardware market in the coming years.” – Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester clarifying his remarks about the future of consoles. [pic]

A report posted on tech blog The Daily claims Microsoft is looking to license Kinect technology to Window-based laptop makers. According to the post, two laptop prototypes were observed in Asus-based netbooks running a build of the Widows 8 OS. A source close to the site said these prototypes weren’t experiments, but officially MS-approved tech. Microsoft announced previously Kinect would be released for Windows systems as early as February 1, and Windows 8 will be shown to the public for the first time next month. Thanks, Neowin.

PS Vita sales in Japan continued to decline last week according to Media Create’s weekly sales chart. The system moved 15,219 units, which is 3,142 units less than the prior week, and is the system’s lowest sales period since it launched in the region during December.

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An industry source has told Kotaku that Microsoft’s next Xbox will contain Blu-ray as its disc technology, and that it’ll introduce Kinect 2; and that it’s to contain some kind of anti-used game technology.

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A Develop source has claimed Wii U has twice the processing and graphical power of Xbox 360, but it still contains less than some studios expected.

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As if one Xbox 720 tech rumour weren’t enough for the day, here’s another.

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World of Warcraft fans in Europe have one final chance to take part in a Blizzard charity auction, which sees the winning bid take home a piece of decommissioned server hardware. According to Blizzard, the the server blades have been preserved in presentation cases, and signed by various WoW developers. Pictures of the hardware up for bidding is posted below. This is the final stage of the auction which started in October, and net proceeds from the auction will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A list of realms up for grabs is posted on Battle.net and the official eBay page.

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A report over on tech blog Fuzil states that last year, Microsoft commissioned IBM and Global Foundries to co-design a processor for its next Xbox console, and the hardware is will be included in development kits which are to start shipping out in April.

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UBM TechInsights got its hands on a 3G-enabled Sony Vita, pried it open to see what all was inside, and figured the total cost of all components came to around the $159 mark.

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“We felt it deserved to be bigger than the 4.3 inch screen on PSP. It’s almost as if we settled on five inches in order to really maximise the same impact that we felt when we first saw it. There was a great deal of discussion and we even talked about using a 5.5 inch screen, but that had a negative impact on the operability of the device. There is always a battle between engineers and designers and I’m not just talking about PlayStation Vita when I say that. I was pushing through this idea of ‘thinner is better’ but I had to be reminded of things like the feature set, processing power, battery life… the overall package. I actually wanted PS Vita to be entirely made of metal but then it was pointed out that this was impossible due to the internal Wi/Fi, 3G and GPRS antennae.” – Vita designer Tokashi Sogabe on the differing perspectives between designing and engineering the handheld.

PS Vita sales showed a drastic decline on Media Create’s weekly sales chart with only 18,361 units moved, a 57% decline over the 42,648 units sold last week. On the software end, Namco’s Super Robot Taise OG Saga Masou Kishin II moved 81,996 units for its debut on PSP.

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Dell has announced a new Alienware PC called the X51, a mini gaming desktop only slightly larger than an Xbox 360.

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NPD December 2011 report has shown US industry sales at $3.99 billion, a 21% year-over-year decline.

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Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House has said the firm isn’t “contemplating” discussion on “anything to do with future console iterations at this point,” reiterating that Sony is committed to supporting PS3 for its entire lifecycle.

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