Content and news by Rob Williams

Greetings from the Central Wastelands!

The Auto Assault team is pleased to announce that on Tuesday, January 10, the Non-Disclosure Agreement was lifted. Members of the beta community and the gaming press are now permitted to publicly discuss their experiences in the Auto Assault beta test, as well as take and publish their own screenshots and videos. Those who have been awaiting the opportunity to publish beta diaries on their sites or write follow-ups to previously published previews are free to do so.

Producer Steve Snow also revealed the plans for the loot bonus that will be granted to players who have purchased the Auto Assault preorder package. In a post on the official message boards, Snow wrote, “The way the bonus works is it increases a creature’s chance to drop enhanced items from one to five percent of the creature’s base chance, so if you’re fighting a boss and it has an 80% chance to drop enhanced items, when your character gets credit for the kill the boss will have an 84% chance to drop enhanced items. For infantry that has only 1% chance to drop enhanced loot, the loot bonus will make that chance 2%. All of this is provided your character has looting rights to the creature when it dies. This will show up in the game as a medal on your character. The loot bonus is applied to your Auto Assault account, so every character created on a pre-order account will have the loot bonus. This is in addition to the unique retailer weapons that improve alongside your character.” You can read the entire post at http://boards.autoassault.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=50632.

Coinciding with the lifting of the NDA and the preorder loot bonus announcement, MMORPG.com will be giving away six thousand serial codes that will grant the gaming community the opportunity to participate in a special beta weekend event that starts Friday, January 13, at 4 pm Eastern time and ends Sunday, January 16, at 3 am Eastern time. In preparation for the assigning of the keys, the client and download instructions have been made available on the event page here: http://www.mmorpg.com/aa_betaweekend.cfm?fp=1280,1024,428656218,20060111043404.

We look forward to sharing the road with you soon!

– The Auto Assault team

While The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe certainly does have it’s merits, the game comes off as much more of a title to play with your friends, rather than a single player experience. Granted, this can be attributed to the nature of the game, one which runs in the vein of the dying genre of beat-them-up fighter titles. While we do applaud the effort put forth to follow the arc of the movie, we can’t help but feel that this title would have done much better as an adventure game, which focused on problem solving and exploration rather than mindless combat.

Check out the full review over at GamePyre!

There’s not too many reviews in our roundup today, and for a Wednesday, that’s odd. At any rate though, if you are thinking of picking up an X2 and are curious to know what the cooler can do, check out the review at Think Computers. Heck, maybe you won’t need a special cooler after all? If you didn’t get to read any FX60 reviews yesterday, then you can check out new ones from PC Stats and Legit Reviews today. If you think you’ve seen a cool power supply before, forget it, and check out XYZ Computing for the look at the worlds smallest!

Cases & Enclosures
• HighSpeed PC Tech Station Large – techPowerUp!

Cooling
• AMD Athlon X2 Stock CPU Cooler – Think Computers

Motherboards & CPU’s
• AMD Athlon64 FX-60 Dual Core – Legit Reviews
• AMD Athlon64 FX-60 Dual Core – PC Stats
• Foxconn 761GXK8MC – GamePyre

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• The World’s Tiniest Power Supply – XYZ Computing

Video Cards & Monitor
• Acer AL2416WS 24in LCD – Trusted Reviews
• HiS Radeon X1600 XT ICEQ iTURBO – Guru 3D
• Powercolor X800 GTO 16 – TweakPC
• ViewSonic 19″ VX924 LCD – UK Gamer

Etcetera & Contests
• Canon EOS 5D Digital Camera – Design Technica
• CES 2006 Keynote and Review-O-Mania – Design Technica (Right-click, save-as)
• ECS/Intel Contest Winners Announced – GamePyre
• KickButtComputers.com – Skull and Crossbones Theme – InsaneTek

NCsoft, ArenaNet Announce Guild Wars: Factions

Free Player-versus-Player Event to Provide Sneak Peek for Players

All Over the World

Bellevue, Wash., Jan. 10, 2006— NCsoft®, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announces Guild Wars®: Factions™, the next chapter in the critically acclaimed Guild Wars franchise from ArenaNet® studios. The Factions campaign will release in the second quarter of 2006. It offers players an incredible gameplay experience with many new choices, including new regions, professions, skills, missions, and monsters, along with expanded options for both Cooperative and Player-versus-Player (PvP) play, and enhanced features for guilds.

Players will get their first chance to experience the new campaign when ArenaNet opens its servers to everyone for the Guild Wars: Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend. This worldwide event—scheduled for January 20 through 22—is open to both existing Guild Wars players and to those who do not have a Guild Wars account. ArenaNet is distributing free access keys to the event at http://www.guildwars.com.

The event will enable players to experience two new professions being introduced in the campaign, the Assassin and the Ritualist. Participants will also be able to try out a number of the skills added to Guild Wars: Factions, including some of the deadly skills of the Assassin and the arcane spells of the spiritual Ritualist. They will also be able toget familiar with the new PvP continent, Battle Isles. Battle Isles will introduce players to new PvP experiences, new and expanded arenas, new quests, and a new explorable area as well.   

Another feature available during the Guild Wars: Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend is Observer Mode, where players who aren’t participating in a battle can view the proceedings and check out the strategies and tactics used by top-ranked guilds as they fight for supremacy.

“We’re excited to be offering this free preview of Guild Wars: Factions to players throughout the world,” said Patrick Wyatt, co-founder of ArenaNet.  “Factions is a huge step in the continued evolution of the game, and I think gamers are really going to be excited about the new features they’re going to see!”

In September of 2005, Guild Wars surpassed more than one million units sold in North America and Europe, a milestone reached in less than five months. Guild Wars is a competitive online roleplaying game that rewards player skill more than time played. Players explore a rich fantasy game world, acquire skills, build personalized characters and compete in head-to-head guild battles with players from around the world.

###

About NCsoft North America

NCsoft – North America (NC-NA) is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation (KSE: 036570.KS). NC-NA, with development and administrative offices in Texas and California, launched two ground-breaking titles in the first half of 2004, Lineage® II and City of Heroes® and in 2005 launched Guild Wars and City of Villains™. The company also works with NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. More information about NCsoft – North America can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.

About ArenaNet
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet’s first title, Guild Wars, is a global online roleplaying game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world. The novel business model, which requires no subscription fees and emphasizes instant action rather than time spent playing, has undoubtedly contributed to the huge commercial success of Guild Wars. More information about ArenaNet can be found at http://www.arena.net.  

Gamers don’t want to put up with subpar equipment… they want the best. Seeing that high-end hardware can be extremely expensive, it’s good to start with the modest mousepad! Today, we are taking a look at the Func sUrface 1030 mousepad, which looks to offer much more to the gamer than other pads on the market.

I know that many people are probably thinking that Lightroom is a disguised copy of Aperture, but this program has clearly been in the works for a while. It’s possible Adobe got wind of Aperture before it was released, but screaming “Aperture copy!” is a little off base since other, lesser-known import, convert, keyword workflow apps have been making good money in the professional photography market for some time.

If you are professional photographer, or want to be, then check out the full article at Ars Technica. They also link you to the Adobe site where you can try out a beta for yourself.

For consumers, a device that could play both HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs would take a lot of risk out of adopting the new video players–but one may not arrive for a while.

Legal agreements, intellectual property issues and technological pride will likely keep the two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies from coming together in the near future, executives and analysts said.

This is going to hurt consumers more than anything. Having to purchase a seperate player for each format is not going to happen for a lot of people, so it’s at least good to see that most movies are available on both. Source: News.com.

The day is finally here! AMD released the new killer Dual Core to their lineup. Rolling in at 2.6GHz, it’s effectively two FX55’s stacked on top of each other.

Bit-Tech: The Athlon 64 FX-60 may not be the most attractive processor, based on its price, but it’s good to see that the two slower Athlon 64 X2’s with 1MB L2 cache per core keep up quite well with it. At £350, the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ is an attractive buy compared to the Athlon 64 X2 4800+, which currently retails at £535. We suspect that this will come down in due course, but we can’t see it dropping down to a price that makes it even more attractive than the X2 4400+.

Hexus: It won’t be cheap, but then for most FX consumers that matters little. They want the best CPU for their systems and under default conditions, the FX-60 is that microprocessor. As an aside, the particular review sample used for this article does a nice and easy 2.8GHz at stock voltage, and just shy of 3GHz when voltage is upped a little, all on the default PIB cooler. Unlocked multipliers means adjustment of the requisites is a piece of cake.

AnandTech: Then there’s the issue of AMD’s upcoming Socket-AM2; due out in another few months, you obviously won’t be able to use any Socket-939 processors in the new motherboards and there will be no upgrade path beyond the FX-60 for current 939 owners, so our recommendation would be to stay away from the FX-60 unless you absolutely have to build the world’s fastest system today.

Check out all the reviews:
• AnandTech
• Bit-Tech
• Bjorn3D
• Hexus
• Neoseeker
• PC Perspective
• T-Break
• Tech Report

Today is the day that we finally see the release of the new top end Dual Core CPU from AMD. If you want to take a break from reading all of those reviews today, then here are some great ones to focus your attention on. If you think that Corsair only makes memory, then you must check out the COOL water cooling review at Overclockers Online today. They concluded that it was a great kit, especially for the price.

If you need some decent DDR2 memory, you should check out Phoronix look at the OCZ PC2-4200 1GB kit. They managed to run stable overclocked to DDR2-736MHz.. not shabby at all. I’m currently running a similar set, and it seems rock stable so far, so I can’t wait to take them for a nice overclocking run. If you are interested in seeing how the X1900 should perform in 3D Mark 05, then check out Hexus. If you have $1,100 just lying around, CrossFired X1900’s may be the way to go!

Cases & Enclosures
• Thermaltake Bach Media LAB HTPC – 3D Gameman

Cooling
• Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 – techPowerUp!
• COOL by Corsair – Overclockers Online
• Cooling Overview – Lower Noise, Better Thermals – Frosty Tech
• PrimeCooler MegaCool 8 Intel Pentium 4 LGA775 – A1 Electronics
• Zalman Fatal1ty FS-V7 GPU Cooler – TweakNews

Memory & Storage
• Corsair 512MB Flash Voyager Flash Memory Drive – Rojak Pot
• OCZ PC2-4200 1GB Gold GX XTC – Phoronix

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Intel 945P/G Mobo Round-up – Digit-Life

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Levicom BlackPower SPS-420W – Technic 3D
• Saitek Eclipse Keyboard – Hardware-Review
• Thermaltake ToughPower 550w – Overclocker Cafe

Video Cards & Monitor
• Next generation NVIDIA GPU details and 3DMarks – Hexus
• RADEON X1900 Benchmarks – Hexus

Etcetera & Contests
• Announcing the ARP-Intel Survey Contest winner! – Rojak Pot
• CES 2006 – Antec and SilverStone – XYZ Computing
• XYZ Computing’s 2006 CES Awards – XYZ Computing
• Yuan DVB-T Mobility PD-300 – Xtreme Computing

Press Releases
• AMD Releases The World’s Ultimate Processor For PC Enthusiasts: The AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 FX-60 Dual-Core Processor – Full PR
• Novell Secures the Open Enterprise with New Linux Application Security Project – Full PR

There’s no shortage of keyboards and mice to choose from when you are looking for a purchase. Today we are taking a look at a combo that should prove perfect for media buffs; even better if you have an HTPC!

The concept is rather simple. You take two MXM graphic modules, plug them in one of those Desktop replacement machines and you can run SLI on your notebook. Nvidia will probably make the chipset that can accommodate SLI in notebooks and we have some reason to think this board is already finished. It is Nforce 4 SLI for notebooks.

If you at the desktop replacement type, then this is something you will likely be waiting for. I can’t wait to see how manufacturers will handle cooling two cards, because it won’t be easy. Source: TheInquirer.

AT CES 2006, I was very much after the latest in the HD DVD and Blu-ray standards dispute. It’s a complete mess, just like the one we experienced at some five years ago at CeBit, when the DVD-R chaps squared up against the DVD+R chaps. It ended up as DVD+/-RW and every recorder that you buy today supports both discs. Now, we learn that Samsung will be the first manufacturer to release a device that is capable of playing both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.

A combo drive is definitely the way to go, although there is really no sense right now. Hopefully we’ll see more Blue Ray and HD-DVD pop up soon. Source: TheInquirer.

Adobe has unveiled a new high-end photography workflow program dubbed “Lightroom.” As a professional photography workflow app with a focus on RAW image processing and batch conversion, Lightroom is a direct competitor to Aperture, Apple’s first foray into professional imaging.

Sounds like a solid product, but it appears Apple is not too happy. Check out the full posting at Ars Technica.

I’m a little skeptical, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. The Optimus keyboard, the one with the little OLEDs under each key, appears to be launching February 1, 2006. Truth? Hype? We don’t know yet, but we’ll keep you informed.

I’ll believe it when I see it; I’m doubtful we’ll see it hit the date. Who knows though, but this thing is really going to hurt some wallets! Source: Gizmodo.

Happy Monday! Is the NV Silencer going the way of the dodo? NGO is taking a look at the brand new Accelero GPU cooler. It turns out that the cooler is so good, that no cons could be listed. If massive storage is your thing, then you may want to look at Trusted Reviews because they are reviewing a 500GB Seagate’s today. If you are in the market for a new PSU, then there are also three reviews there for your consumption.

Cooling
• World Exclusive Review: Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 VGA Cooler – NGOHQ

Memory & Storage
• Kingston’s microSD Flash Memory Card – Legit Reviews
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 – 500GB – Trusted Reviews

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Albatron K8SLi – Viper Lair
• Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro SLI AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 – OC Inside

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Coolmax Fanless 400W – ByteSector
• Enermax Liberty 500 – CaseModGod
• Nexus NX5000 500W Power Supply – Pro-Clockers

Video Cards & Monitor
• ATI Radeon X1800 XT CrossFire Evaluation – Hard|OCP
• ATI PowerPlay Benchmarked – PyroCPU
• PowerColor X1600 XT & X1300 PRO – Bjorn3D

Etcetera & Contests
• D-Link DSL-G624M – Wireless Router – TrustedReviews
• The NextGen home – straight from CES – Bona Fide Reviews

After reading an internet report which claimed HL2: Aftermath would be released on the 24th of April while HL2: Platinum would be available much earlier, on the 28th of January, I decided to e-mail Valve Software’s Doug Lombardi in order to ask for a confirmation:

We’re currently targeting April 24th for the release of both Aftermath and Platinum. Platinum will include HL2, HL2 DM, CS: Source, DoD: Source, and Aftermath.

I cannot wait to play this.. Source: Mod-HQ.

Whether you choose the copper or the aluminum version, the Eagle is a
welcome replacement for the ineffective stock coolers that modern furnaces,
I mean, video cards possess. Now that we know Titan has yet another amazing
product in its lineup, I am ready to see what they have in store for us
next.

Check out the full review over at Overclockers Online.

Sweex is a manufacturer of a wide range of affordable computer related products and its vision is, that it is the possibilities this technology has to offer that must be focal point rather than the technology itself. Sweex communicates about this in a clear language. It sees everyday uses that can be recognized by young and old alike. It simplifies a seemingly complicated, confusing technology. Sweex therefore offers a wide range of affordable and smart products, like the Sweex USB 2.0 Mini HUB.

Check out the full review at MVK Tech.

Gigabyte GV-NX66256DP2 is NVIDIA’s latest GeForce 6600 series graphic card and we would like to conclude that it is another great value graphics card from NVIDIA. By changing the DDR to DDR2, the performance has been increased significantly. Futhermore, Gigabyte GV-NX66256DP2 is a totally silent graphics card using the Silent-Pipe cooling technology. Although it supports SLi, it is not really wise to run an SLi configuration as getting a single high end graphics card offers a better price versus performance ratio.

Check out the full review at PC Modding Malaysia.

Although ATI’s X1000 series graphics processors have stolen a
great deal of the attention off its predecessors, there remains no Linux
3D support at this time for these latest red solutions. However, for
Linux users with the present status of ATI’s proprietary drivers the
X800 remains a respectable solution for those not looking to fall to the
green team with their overwhelming Linux presence. Up on our review
block today we have the X800XL 256MB from the folks over at Power Color.

Check out the full article over at Phoronix.