PC Perspective Podcast #217

Join PC Perspective this week as they talk about the Corsair AX1200i Power Supply, Video Games as Art, Wireless Charging and more!

Annoyed Gamer Episode 7

Straight from Seattle, Marcus offers a rebuttal to his piracy rant, shares his thoughts on PAX 2012 and more!

IDF Keynote Video: Transparent Computing Software, Services

You don't have to be in San Francisco to catch all the action from IDF. Once again, our man from Tom's Hardware Italy with the camera has recorded the keynote from the ongoing Intel Developers Forum. Best of all, you get to watch it at your desk, or on your couch, or wherever you're computing from. At over 52 minutes in length, you may want to grab beverage and fix a snack.

Lucid Thunderbolt External GPU Demonstrated

Lucid now sees an advantage for this technology because of the Thunderbolt interface and often underpowered Ultrabooks that may have enthusiasts wanting more in the graphics department. Their external box integrates an AMD Radeon 6700 chip, which has the potential to improve the graphics performance of a base Ultrabook by a substantial margin.

So, is this technology coming to market? It is a concept right now and far from being a market-ready product. As passionate as we were about external graphics in 2006, it is still much more likely that external graphics would be, if commercially sold, a niche product and not a mainstream solution.

Turns Your Desk into a Microsoft Surface-like Display

DIY desktop interface project turns any flat surface into an interactive display. Now that Microsoft has unveiled its Surface tablet, the old touchscreen table device is left without a catchy name. Now identified as Microsoft "PixelSense", the Samsung SUR40 is still a highly desirable device that has inspired many creative minds to come up with similar, less costly alternatives. The latest example is the AnyTouch device based on Ayotle’s Ayotle Interactive+ system.

Although it provides similar functions to Microsoft's Pixelsense, AnyTouch is unique in that it doesn't require an actual touchscreen. As the name suggests, the device can turn any flat surface along with 3D objects into a complex, interactive display. While the AnyTouch setup might not cost as much as a $8400 Samsung SUR40, it does require a handful of expensive equipment including a DSLR camera and the ASUS Xtion motion sensor.

No word on whether or not the AnyTouch code will be opened up to the public for DIY projects just yet, but we're assuming this isn't going to be the last we hear of this awesome surface-top display.

Furious Four No Longer a Brothers in Arms Game

Brothers in Arms: Furious Four is now a very different game from the one Gearbox unveiled at E3 2011, so much so that it's no longer an over-the-top offshoot of the Brothers in Arms franchise or even called Furious Four. So what's the story with Furious Four? Gearbox isn't ready to say just yet, but the studio is heavily hinting that a core Brothers in Arms game true to the franchise name is also in the mix.

Raise your hand if you were disappointed when Brothers in Arms appeared to be going the slapstick route in Furious Four. Yeah, me too. I'm a big Brothers in Arms fan, and enjoy the mix of squad strategy and first-person shooting. Turns out Gearbox wasn't that keen on Furious Four as a BiA game either. As studio boss Randy Pitchford told Kotaku at PAX Prime, the decision to make BiA: Furious Four was due, in part, to Ubisoft wanting a new BiA game and Gearbox being out of fresh ideas. Hence the wild new direction for the franchise.

But as Pitchford revealed, the further into development the team got on Furious Four, the more obvious it became it wasn't a BiA game. The studio actually felt "unshackled" by dropping the Brothers in Arm name and started to add new features. As it stands now, the game formerly known as Furious Four is drastically different, Pitchford said, and while he refrained from sharing specifics, he did say it will bring a Borderlands-like genre hybrid experience.

"Our Pokemon has evolved," Pitchford told Kotaku. "It has different powers."

An official Furious Four announcement is coming soon, Gearbox said, and for fans wondering about the core Brothers in Arms franchise, an announcement about that should also be right around the corner. Pitchford teased that Gearbox plans to talk about its plans for BiA during the next community event, set for September 15.

Ubisoft Scraps DRM Tech for PC Games

Ubisoft isn't just getting rid of its draconian DRM technology, the chains that bound even its single-player games were broken months ago. In an about face, the Paris-based publisher announced that gamer feedback led to the decision to scrap its always online internet requirement for good. Ubisoft PC games are now DRM-free.

In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Ubisoft's Worldwide Director for Online Games, Stephanie Perotti, said that going forward, PC gamers will only be required to enter a single online activation code after install, and there will be no limits on how many PCs the code is used on. "Whenever you want to reach any online service, multiplayer, you will have to be connected, and obviously for online games you will also need to be online to play," Perotti said. "But if you want to enjoy Assassin's Creed III single player, you will be able to do that without being connected. And you will be able to activate the game on as many machines as you want."

Ubisoft has been assailed by PC gamers for years for its DRM tech, and its unclear why the publisher finally decided to listen and pull the plug. However, just two weeks back Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot said the company believed up to 95% of all Ubisoft PC games out in the wild were illegally downloaded. Based on that stat, the DRM wasn't only not working, it may have actually made Ubisoft a target of piracy. If anything, Ubi wasn't listening to feedback, it was throwing in the towel. But hey, I'll take it. Better late than never.

Fortnite "Going to be a PC Game First and Foremost"

"Next-gen is a high-end PC. It's been here for a while. The PC never died. The PC never went away." Ah, Cliff Bleszinski. I knew I liked you for a reason. In a talk about Epic's upcoming Fortnite at PAX, the stylish design director made it clear that his team is making their take on the zombie survival genre with the PC in mind. In fact, it's their priority, as it'll be the first time most people get their hands on Unreal Engine 4. Let me be the first to say "Ooh, pretty."

In exciting news, as Rock Paper Shotgun reports, in 2013 Epic will be rolling out a beta to see what people like and don't like about Fortnite, and promise to cater to our every whim. It's a lot of responsibility, friends. Do try and be respectful.

It's great to see the (at least lately) console-oriented developer catering to the PC audience. Particularly with a game so focused around building and player creativity, the mouse-and-keyboard platform seems better suited for these sort of expansive, player-driven concepts. So far, Fortnite looks amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on the closed beta. That is, if I can get in. You hear me, Cliff? Please?

Trials Evolution: Gold Edition Backflips to PC

I love it when things come full circle. Especially when that circle includes a rad motorcycle flipping through explosions and stuff. After making its start as a web-based game, the Trials series became console-ized for the releases of Trials HD and Trials Evolution. Now, Trials is coming back home, bringing PC gamers everything they missed and more in Trials: Gold Edition.

Coming in early 2013, Gold Edition will have all the content from Trials HD and Evolution (120 tracks in total), upgraded visuals, and a retooled editor that will make use of the mouse and keyboard. Let's get back to physics-based stunt driving.