Set for a Spring 2009 release, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena features an all-new full-length campaign as well as a new multiplayer component, a first for the series. The game also includes a remake of the original game, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay with better graphics. From the publisher:

In The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena the player takes the role of Riddick, as played by Vin Diesel, using stealth and action to overcome the merciless crew of the predatory Merc-ship Dark Athena which awaits its prey in the dark reaches of space. Cheating death through a series of spectacular battles and events, Riddick will fight for his life amid a storm of malevolence and horror. The Chronicles of Riddick series of games takes the player deeper into the universe of Universal Pictures' films The Chronicles of Riddick and cult classic Pitch Black, which first introduced Vin Diesel as enigmatic anti-hero Riddick. Featuring a brand new exhilarating adventure, a high-definition re-imagining of the classic Escape from Butcher Bay campaign and new multiplayer options, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will thrill fans when it launches in spring 2009.

A new trailer for the game has also been released:

We already knew that this month's Catalyst driver release would emphasize AMD's Stream processing initiative, with a new Avivo video converter utility offering video transcoding support for many popular video formats. However the new driver will also bring performance improvements for gamers. In their testing ATI touts the following performance enhancements in Catalyst 8.12:

Crysis:+2-7%
Crysis Warhead:+2-3%
Devil May Cry 4:+1-6%
Far Cry 2: noAA scores are fixed for Crossfire configs; this is worth +20% on slower cards, and as much as 70% on faster ones; +5-10% gains when AA is enabled
FEAR:+2-6%
Left 4 Dead:+ 2-4%
Lost Planet Colonies:+ 3-10%, mostly in Area 2
Prey:+2-5%
STALKER Clear Sky:+5-10%, primarily on Crossfire configurations

Catalyst 8.12 will be released one week from today, Wed December 12th. I'm currently testing the driver with Sapphire's Radeon 4850 X2 and hope to have the review up shortly.

With Phenom II coming early next year AMD is reportedly tweaking their roadmap for early '09 to accompany the new CPUs. DigiTimes is reporting that the company will unveil a new 760G integrated chipset based on their RS780 IGP next month. The chipset will continue to support DX10 but will not support unified video decoder or Hybrid CrossFire. HDMI and DisplayPort support will also be removed. According to DigiTimes the 760G chipset will be coming next month accompanied by a new SB710 South Bridge and will replace AMD's 740G in their lineup.

DigiTimes also mentions that upgraded 790FX and 790GX chipsets will also be released with AM3-compatibility. Considering that many of today's 790FX and GX motherboards are forward-compatible with AM3 via a simple BIOS update, this likely refers to DDR3-capable variants, as we know AMD's 8-series chipsets have been pushed back to debut in 2H'09. In fact DigiTimes says the latest AMD roadmap calls for a RD890/SB800 launch in Sept, while an RS880 IGP chipset with SB710 will arrive in May or June 2009.

With Microsoft's Windows 7 OS widely expected to make its debut sometime next year, the company is slowly getting into marketing mode promoting the upcoming OS and its benefits over Vista. Microsoft Senior VP Bill Veghte is the latest exec to tout Windows 7, speaking to investors Veghte reassured the crowd that the OS is a significant upgrade over Vista: "There are plenty of great things in there that make it much more significant than a service pack". The OS is supposed to offer improved boot times in comparison to Vista, as well as performance enhancements for SSDs and multitouch support.

With dual Radeon 4870 X2 cards, liquid cooling, and a factory OC'ed Core i7-965 EE CPU, CyberPower's boasts nice specs, but does its performance and build quality live up to expectations? Find out in this review!

>> Click Here to read the article

Today OCZ announced the release of their CrossOver USB 2.0 flash drive. Now normally the launch of a flash drive isn't all that extraordinary, however the CrossOver also features a built-in microSD adapter:

Sunnyvale, CA—December 2, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today introduced the CrossOver USB 2.0 Flash drive, the latest line of flash media that also doubles as a microSD™ and microSDHC™ card adapter. For the on-the-go student, gamer, or professional, the OCZ CrossOver flash drive eliminates the need for card readers and transfers your important multimedia files to and from your computer, phone, and camera.

“With the proliferation of smart phones and MP3 players, the demand for microSD™ and microSDHC™ and the ability to easily transfer content to these cards has significantly increased,” said Alex Mei, CMO for the OCZ Technology Group. “OCZ is excited to introduce our new Crossover USB drive that to addresses this growing need, combining the benefits of a USB drive and a MicroSD adapter that allows consumers to transfer music and images directly from their microSD cards to their computer or onto the Crossover itself without another reader, making it easier than ever to manage multimedia between devices.”

The unique CrossOver contains an integrated card reader compatible with the latest microSD and microSDHC media cards. This convenient feature enables you to expand the CrossOver’s 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB onboard storage capacity, as well as view and transfer your files from your microSD device. Combining a durable aluminum design and discrete card reader, the sleek and versatile CrossOver features excellent instant plug-and-play and ingenious capability to store and transfer via high-speed USB and microSD. All OCZ CrossOver flash drives come backed with a 2 year warranty for unparalleled peace of mind, upholding the OCZ commitment to quality.

Responding to a question from a gamer boycotting EA Games for their use of SecuROM's DRM activation scheme who wonders Valve's relationship with EA in Left 4 Dead (EA publishes Left 4 Dead at retail for Valve), Valve's Gabe Newell not only answered the gamer's question, he also levied some quotable material on his thoughts on DRM:

"As far as DRM goes, most DRM strategies are just dumb. The goal should be to create greater value for customers through service value (make it easy for me to play my games whenever and wherever I want to), not by decreasing the value of a product (maybe I'll be able to play my game and maybe I won't).

We really really discourage other developers and publishes from using the broken DRM offerings, and in general there is a groundswell to abandon those approaches."

(Spotted on Game Politics)

While speaking at their analyst day, Atari revealed that the company had started work on a new Baldur's Gate title. The original game was a huge hit on the PC, earning a 4/5 stars rating on this site while it's sequel earned a 93% score back in 2000. Atari is also planning to bring back the venerable Test Drive series.

The company also announced that Ghostbusters is on track for a June 2009 release.

Thanks to recent price cuts Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console enjoyed its best Black Friday sales performance ever, with sales up 25% over last year. The company also boasted that the 360 outsold Sony's PS3 console by a ratio of 3:1.

Nintendo's Wii console continued to dominate the overall sales charts though, with retailers selling out their entire inventories of the console yet again.

CD Projekt RED's hit RPG The Witcher is being remade for Xbox 360 and PS3 game consoles with today's announcement of The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf:

At the ATARI LIVE showcase event in London today, Atari and CD Projekt RED announced plans for the global release of The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf on PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in autumn 2009.

Based on the story of multi award-winning million-selling PC role-playing game The Witcher and completely rebuilt pixel by pixel for the new generation of consoles, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf brings the unrivalled RPG experience to Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 with a brand new combat system for thrilling dynamic action, and a new engine delivering matchless state-of-the-art visuals. The game is underpinned with the evocative and enthralling story which helped secure the original game's status as PC role-playing game of 2007, based on the mature and compelling universe created by renowned Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski.
...
Based on the universe created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf puts players in the role of Geralt, a professional monster slayer who exists on the fringes of a complex society troubled by the kind of problems more commonly found on the front pages of newspapers than in a fantasy universe. Taken as a child, mutated, and trained in the arcane ways of the witchers, Geralt is a reluctant hero, who nonetheless finds himself all too frequently in the heat of battles that are not his own. In this world there is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences.

With The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, the best PC RPG in recent years is being completely remade as the ultimate console RPG. The title is being developed by a core team from CD Projekt RED working alongside France-based Widescreen Games who provide their cross-platform DaVinci engine technology. For more information about The Witcher visit www.thewitcher.com and for more details about Atari's entire product line up visit www.atari.com.

Hitachi, the world's 3rd largest hard driver maker after Seagate and Western Digital, has announced that they plan to enter the solid-state drive (SSD) market with flash memory sourced from Intel. The two companies announced that they will jointly develop SSDs targeted for use in servers and workstations, with the first products to arrive in 2010.

The drives will be sold under the Hitachi brand, leaving me to wonder what will happen to Intel's X25-E line of high-end SSDs. Intel entered the SSD market earlier this year with both enterprise (X25-E) and consumer-oriented (X25-M) SSDs.

NVIDIA's 55-nm derivative of today's GT200 GPUs used in the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 was expected to arrive in late Q3 or Q4 of this year, but so far the chip hasn't surfaced. Shrinking GT200 to 55-nm is hugely important for NVIDIA's bottom line, as price cuts have likely cut into their expected margins significantly: its forgotten now, but GeForce GTX 260 originally launched at $400 and GTX 280 at $650. So where is NVIDIA's new 55-nm chip?

Expreview managed to snag a pic of said GPU, and expects cards based on it to arrive next month in January. Interestingly enough the chip they snagged was dated week 33, tagging it for mid-August production. That would've given NVIDIA plenty of time to introduce cards based on GT200b during Q4 this year.

Fans of the original Half-Life will be glad to hear that Half-Life 2 mod Black Mesa will be coming in 2009. Based on Valve's Source engine, the game looks like it's going to be pretty sweet:

Yesterday Intel quietly launched two new 45-nm CPUs to the channel: the quad-core Core 2 Q8300 and the dual-core Pentium E5300.

The Q8300 runs at 2.5GHz with a 1333MHz FSB, just like the Q9300, only the Q8300 ships with 4MB of L2 cache versus the Q9300's 6MB of L2. Intel lists tray pricing for the Q8300 at $224; $42 less than the Q9300. The E5300 runs at 2.6GHz with an 800MHz FSB and 2MB of L2 cache. It's priced at $86.

Intel also introduced a new Celeron E1500 CPU on Sunday, but no self-respecting gamer runs those CPUs anymore.

By now you all know AMD plans to unveil their upcoming 45-nm Phenom II CPU at CES next month at speeds as high as 3.0GHz. The chip is expected to rival Intel's Penryn family of quad-core CPUs in terms of performance. AMD is also expected to introduce AM3 and triple-core Phenom CPUs shortly thereafter.

DigiTimes is reporting that the AM3 launch will occur in February, with six CPUs on tap for release: the Phenom II X4 925 and 910 with 6MB of L3 cache, the X4 810 and 805 with 4MB of L3 cache, and the X3 720 and 710 with 6MB of L3 cache.

AMD will then follow up with Athlon X4 600 and Athlon X3 400 CPUs that ship without L3 cache in April. These chips will be based on AMD's Propus core. Most of today's AM2+ motherboards should be forward-compatible with AM3 CPUs with a simple BIOS update.

Is Left 4 Dead really as fun as everyone says it is? YES! With its fast-paced gameplay, nonstop action, and co-op support, Valve's zombie shooter is sure to delight. Read on for the full review!

>> Click Here to read the article

If recent ForceWare driver releases are correct, NVIDIA is poised to rename existing GeForce 8,9 series GPUs once again. VR-Zone has uncovered new GeForce GTS, GeForce GT, and GeForce G GPUs, as well as new mobile parts.

According to the report, G92-based cards will be designated as GeForce GTS 150, while G94 cards will be named GeForce GT 130 and G96 GeForce GT 120. Finally, G98 GPUs will be sold as GeForce G100.

As you can see under the new designation NVIDIA will brand their high-end enthusiast parts as "GeForce GTX" while mainstream performance segment will be branded as "GeForce GTS". Mainstream cards will be sold as GeForce GT and finally entry-level cards will use the GeForce G designation.

No word on when the new renamed cards will hit retail, presumably NVIDIA's board partners will move as quickly as possible to sell existing GeForce 9800, 9600, 9500, 9400 cards first though.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the Windows Vista-capable debacle, where Intel integrated graphics offerings weren't capable of handling many Vista eye candy effects, Microsoft has developed a DX10/DX10.1 software rasterizer for Windows 7, allowing all 3D rendering to be handled by the CPU. Potentially faster CPUs would be better suited to handle these tasks than Intel's IGP.

The Microsoft technology, dubbed WARP (Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform) 10 supports DirectX 10 and DX10.1 as well as 8x MSAA and anisotropic filtering. According to this Microsoft document, WARP10 has been optimized for use on multi-core CPUs:

As WARP10 makes extensive use of multiple CPU cores, the best performance of the rasterizer will be found on modern quad core CPU’s. WARP10 also runs significantly faster on machines with SSE4.1 extensions and we have done significant testing and performance tuning on machines with eight or more cores and SSE4.1 as we believe these high end machines will be more and more common during the lifetime of Windows 7.

When WARP10 is running on the CPU we are limited compared to a graphics card in a number of ways. The front side bus speed of a CPU is typically around or under 10GB/s where as a graphics card often has dedicated memory that is able to take advantage of 20-100GB/s or more of graphics bandwidth. Graphics hardware also has fixed function units that can perform complex and expensive tasks like texture filtering, format decompression or conversions asynchronously with very little overhead or power cost. Performing these operations on a typical CPU is expensive in terms of both power consumption and performance cost in cycles.

...

The typical performance numbers we are seeing on an Intel Penryn based 3.0GHz Quad Core machine show that WARP10 can in some cases even outperform low end integrated Direct3D 10 graphics GPU’s on a number of benchmarks!

Low end discrete graphics hardware is typically 4-5x faster than WARP10 at running these benchmarks and obviously, these GPU’s have minimal use of CPU resources as well. Mid-range or high-end graphics cards are significantly faster than WARP10 for many applications particularly when an application can take advantage of the massive parallelism and memory bandwidth these graphics cards provide.

We don’t see WARP10 as a replacement for graphics hardware, particularly as reasonably performing low end Direct3D 10 discrete hardware is now available for under $25. The goal of WARP10 was to allow applications to target Direct3D 10 level hardware without having significantly different code paths or testing requirements when running on hardware or when running in software.

The Microsoft article goes on to state Crysis benchmarks with a variety of CPUs running the game in DX10 low quality mode at 800x600. Core i7 965 ran the game at 7.36 fps, while the Q9650 topped out at 5.69 fps and 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo 2.62 fps. AMD's Phenom 9550 ran the game at 3.01 fps.

Rockstar has announced that Grand Theft Auto IV will utilize SecuROM DRM software, just like Far Cry 2, Crysis Warhead, Spore, and others. Fortunately Rockstar won't be implementing the software's most controversial schemes, while you will have to activate the game before you can play the game won't have install limits, so you can install it an unlimited number of times on as many PCs as you'd like. The game will hit retailers starting next month.

If this report from DigiTimes is correct, Intel's most popular quad-core CPU, the Core 2 Quad Q6600 will be discontinued in Q1'09, with the processor getting EOL status in Q2'09. According to the article the move could spark price cuts on the Q6600, as PC manufacturers and channel vendors move to clear their inventory of Q6600 parts by the end of the year.

Its been two years since ASUS and Intel showed off the first Eee PC netbook at Computex. Back then the netbook concept was an intriguing one, but no one knew then how quickly the segment would take off. Now that Intel has a specialized processor for netbooks, you'd think they'd remain committed to the market, but it appears that may not be the case. Speaking at a conference Intel VP Stu Pann made some pretty revealing comments on the topic: "We view the Netbook as mostly incremental to our total available market...If you've ever used a Netbook and used a 10-inch screen size--it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out."

The News.com article makes some interesting points. Apparently some consumers are purchasing netbooks with the intention of using them as a laptop replacement, but they were always intended to be used as a complement to your existing desktop or laptop PC. The keyboards are too small for extended use, and as the Intel executive notes, the screen too small. Intel's Atom CPU is also extremely underpowered in comparison to today's latest Core 2 mobile and Turion X2 CPUs.

AMD has stated that they won't be producing an Atom competitor to rival Intel, instead they're focusing their efforts on delivering a full-fledged notebook on a slightly larger form factor than today's netbooks. As I stated in the AMD roadmap article I think AMD's making the right call, as they likely lack the engineering resources to develop a new CPU and chipset to compete with Intel and besides, their ASPs are already suffering enough as it is. If AMD can partner with the right company (HP perhaps?) to deliver a really solid $500-$600 ultraportable notebook with Radeon 4300-based DX10 graphics and a speedy dual-core CPU, it could make the netbook obsolete.

Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers! To celebrate the holiday many retailers have begun offering their Black Friday deals early. I've highlighted some of the best gaming deals I've seen by retailer:

Newegg:
Want to build a sweet gaming rig on a budget?

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 for $159.99

ASUS Striker II Formula for $199.99 after MIR

OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB DDR2-1066 for $41.99 after MIR

Windows Vista Home Premium for $79.99
(Unfortunately Newegg doesn't list enough parts on sale to build a complete PC, but some nice sales nonetheless)
Gears of War 2 for $49.99
Metal Gear Solid 4 for $39.99

Best Buy
Xbox 360 Pro 60GB bundle with NBA 2K9, Tony Hawk Proving Ground, in addition to standard game bundle of LEGO: Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda: $299.99
Far Cry 2 Xbox 360: $37.99
Tom Clancy's End War Xbox 360: $37.99
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 PS3: $19.99

Target (in-store deals)
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway PS3/Xbox 360: $20
Dead Space PS3/Xbox 360: $30
NBA 2K9 PS3/Xbox 360: $39
Call of Duty: World at War PS3/Xbox 360: $49

Circuit City
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars PC $4.99
Brothers In Arms: Hell Highway PS3: $19.99
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway Xbox 360: $19.99

Unigine Corp. just released the first DirectX 10.1 tech demo that we're aware of. Dubbed "Tropics" the demo utilizes the Unigine 3D graphics engine, with the demo taking place on an island.

Tropics also has code paths for DX9, DX10, and OpenGL, so a Radeon 4800 isn't required to run the tech demo. DX10.1 is used to enhance performance.

Amazon has some pretty sweet gaming deals in store for Black Friday. Tired of paying $60 for Xbox 360 games? On Friday the company will have many AAA titles selling for just $40, while PC games like Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 will be available for $30.

Black Friday Ads has also named Amazon's DS bundle the best of the Black Friday deals for the DS. Amazon is offering the Nintendo DS Lite Limited Edition Red Mario with New Super Mario Bros. Bundle and the Nintendo DS Lite Limited Edition Ice Blue with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day each for $134.99.

I'll post a news article on the best Black Friday deals tomorrow, so start gathering your links! Hopefully we can all help each other find the best gaming and tech deals for Black Friday.

That's the billion-dollar question facing the gaming industry today: with economies worldwide in recession, will the gaming industry be able to weather the storm (relatively) okay? During the last recession in 2001 the answer was yes, but that recession was relatively short; the recession of 2008 is expected to last well into 2009 and perhaps 2010.

News.com is the latest publication to ask the question to industry execs, with Microsoft and Nintendo expressing cautious optimism while industry analysts believe Sony could come under pressure due to the PS3's high price tag. Currently pricing for the console starts at $399.

Bungie's upcoming Halo 3 expansion has been renamed from Halo 3: Recon to Halo 3: ODST. According to Bungie the new name more accurately reflects the role you'll play in the game:

The upcoming Bungie project formerly known as "Halo 3 : Recon" will now be known as "Halo 3 : ODST."

If you recall, this is our recently announced stand-alone extension to Halo 3 that features an all new campaign played from the perspective of an ODST in the heart of a Covenant occupied New Mombasa. In addition to sleuthing around the city and piecing together the details surrounding your squad's whereabouts, the game will also include some new Halo 3 multiplayer content as well as one or two unrevealed surprises when it's released next Fall.

This new title is a more straightforward account of the experience that awaits and the role you will assume as you explore the streets of New Mombasa. But don't worry, you can still has Recon. (the armor that is, it's still tied to the Vidmaster achievements and will be accessible via the final retail release next Fall).

"ODST" (literally pronounced "Oh-Dee-Ess-Tee" and not "ohdst") is the acronym for "Orbital Drop Shock Trooper." This special forces branch of the UNSC military force is called into action for highly specialized, small scale operations. ODST units were deployed during portions of the Halo 2 and Halo 3 campaign and have also been featured in some of the Halo novels. To learn more about this elite military operation, check out this recent interview with Bungie's Halo fiction guru, Robt McLees.

Halo 3 : ODST will drop into stores next Fall and the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack will be coming to Xbox LIVE Marketplace sometime early next year*. (More info as soon as we have it!)

Fallout 3 fans rejoice, next month Bethesda plans to release the dev kit for Fallout 3, opening the way for the first game mods:

Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, today announced plans to make both its editor and downloadable content available for its award-winning game, Fallout 3 in the coming weeks. The official editor for Fallout 3, called the G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit), will be available for free download in December and will allow Games for Windows users to create and add their own content to the game. In addition, the first official downloadable content, Operation: Anchorage, will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows in January, and more downloadable content coming in February and March.

“We’ve always seen the original world of Fallout 3 as a foundation for even more content. Some created by us, and a lot more created by users,” said Todd Howard, game director for Fallout 3. “It’s fun to create your own character, but it can be equally fun to create your own adventures. We can’t wait to see what the community does with the G.E.C.K.”

The release of the G.E.C.K. provides the community with tools that will allow players to expand the game any way they wish. Users can create, modify, and edit any data for use with Fallout 3, from building landscapes, towns, and locations to writing dialogue, creating characters, weapons, creatures, and more.

Three downloadable content packs will be coming to Xbox 360 and Games for Windows Live starting in January that will add new quests, items, and content to Fallout 3.

Operation: Anchorage: Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. An action-packed battle scheduled for release in January.

The Pitt: Journey to the industrial raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. Choose your side. Scheduled for release in February.

Broken Steel: Join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and rid the Capital Wasteland of the Enclave remnants once and for all. Continues the adventure past the main quest. Scheduled for release in March.

At load ATI's stock 4870 cards can push 80 degrees during gaming, and over 60 at idle. But what if these temps are too high for you? If that's the case, you should take a long look at the Sapphire Toxic 4870. The card ships with vapor chamber and heatpipe cooling technology, delivering GPU temps that are drastically lower than ATI's stock cooler. The card is also OC'ed for increased performance. See how it stacks up against other cards in its class in this review!

>> Click Here to read the article

For a limited time BFG is offering a free PCIe upgrade to all BFG card owners with a GeForce 6x or 7x series AGP card. According to their chart BFG GeForce 7600 GS OC AGP owners will receive a free upgrade to BFG's 9500 GT OC 1GB, or for $50 you can trade-in your 7600 GS card for a 9600 GT. All BFG GeForce 6800 (or better) card owners will receive a free upgrade to the 9600 GT OC, or for $50, BFG's 9800 GT OC.

Click here for complete details.

While speaking in Mississippi last week comedian Bill Cosby likened Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto as an "entrance exam" to prison: "Cost your mother $250 to buy that for you so you can practice your entrance exam (to prison)."