February sales plunge as blockbusters fail to shine

March 10th, 2013, 21:28 Posted By: wraggster

UK games execs were left scratching their heads last month after a string of big budget action games failed to lift games retail out of the gloom.
Last month UK games stores sold 1,854,954 games, a drop of 19.9% over February 2012. And that’s despite big name releases including Dead Space 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Crysis 3.
In fact, the combined sales of those four games managed less than 275,000 units last month.
In total, stores generated £45.3m from software sales, a slightly softer drop of 17.6 per cent.
The turmoil on the High Street, driven by store closures at Blockbuster and HMV, will not have helped.
But the poor performances of new titles has still surprised many corners of the trade.
“It’s bleak out there,” said one UK publisher boss. “Nothing is selling as it should. Let’s hope next month’s titles can break through.”
Aliens: Colonial Marines was the top seller last month. The action title was not well received by critics, but the title managed to find an audience, driven by Sega’s marketing campaign.
Sega was the second best performing publisher of February, nestled behind EA – its top seller was Dead Space 3 at No.2.
Retailers will now be looking to March’s blockbusters to help arrest the market slowdown. The first is Tomb Raider, which was released this week. Square Enix says it wants the action title to be a Top Five title of 2013, so expectations are high.
BioShock: Infinite is also due later this month, and the 2K game is subject to huge press attention.
Meanwhile, there’s some overdue big titles for PC, 3DS and Wii U games this month, including the likes of SimCity, Luigi’s Mansion 2 and LEGO City Undercover.
All data is courtesy of UKIE/GfK?Chart-Track. And is for the four weeks ending February 23rd, 2013.
THE FEBRUARY TOP TEN
1. Aliens: Colonial Marines – Sega
2. Dead Space 3 – EA
3. FIFA 13 – EA
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Activision
5. Far Cry 3 – Ubisoft
6. Crysis 3 – EA
7. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Konami
8. Assassin’s Creed III – Ubisoft
9. Need for Speed: Most Wanted – EA
10. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Namco Bandai

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/febru...-shine/0112133

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

If Video Games Make People Violent, So Do Pictures of Snakes

March 10th, 2013, 16:06 Posted By: wraggster

phenopticon writes with this nugget from an intriguing piece at Gamasutra that adds another voice to the slow-burn debate on the psychological effects of video games:"For nearly thirty years we've been having this discussion, asking the question: do violent movies, music or video games make people violent? Well according to Brad Bushman and Craig Anderson of Iowa State University, yes. Based on the results of their research they concluded in 2001 that video games and violent media can make people aggressive and violent. Based upon their data and their conclusions, however, it's safe to say that photos of snakes, crispy bacon, or a particularly rigorous game of chess can also make people aggressive and violent."

http://science.slashdot.org/story/13...ures-of-snakes

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Double Fine developing for Leap Motion Controller

March 10th, 2013, 15:59 Posted By: wraggster

Second game in DF/Dracogen partnership to appear at South by Southwest in Austin

Double Fine has partnered with Leap Motion to bring their new rhythm game Dropchord to the new PC motion controller and iOS devices.
This is the studio's second title released through a deal with Steve Dengler's Dracogen. The first was Double Fine's free-to-play experiment Middle Manager of Justice for iOS.

“The Leap Motion Controller is the world’s most accurate 3-D motion control device," claims Leap Motion president and COO Andy Miller.
"It allows people to play Dropchord on their computer entirely by moving their hands and fingers in the air."
The device will ship in May, and is currently priced at $79.99.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...ion-Controller

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Battlefield 4 and Dragon Age 3 engine Frostbite 2 work with Oculus Rift

March 8th, 2013, 00:54 Posted By: wraggster

EA is exploring the possibility of making Battlefield 4 and Dragon Age 3 engine Frostbite 2 work with the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift.After a forum member at MTBS3D discovered an EA request for a student researcher to look into VR tech in games, referencing the Oculus Rift, EA confirmed plans to check compatibility with the DICE-made Frostbite engine, which the publisher is using to build many of its upcoming games, including Battlefield 4 and Dragon Age 3."I am really eager to see how the Oculus Rift works with Frostbite," head of the Frostbite creative team at DICE Frank Vitz said."There are multiple titles in the works that would be awesome with the Rift."He continued: "It should be awesome. BF3 in S3D works great and our current version of the engine has all of that support still. I have one of the first Rift dev kits coming my way in March. We have an internal community eager to work on it... I know of at least four kits on order."Rather than EA issuing a mandate for implementation, each game team will be responsible for making their experiences work with the Oculus Rift, Vitz said. It's not a case of getting it working, rather, it's about getting it working well.No promises, then, but basic implementation should be "pretty straightforward," Vitz said, so fingers crossed.http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...th-oculus-rift

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

GameStop reminds Microsoft and Sony why it thinks always-online consoles are bad

March 8th, 2013, 00:48 Posted By: wraggster

US retail giant GameStop has moved to remind Microsoft and Sony why it reckons always-online consoles that don't play second-hand games are a bad idea.In an interview with Forbes, GameStop president Tony Bartel answered questions on one of the hottest topics in gaming: always online next-generation consoles that - potentially - block used games."There has been a lot of speculation on this topic," Bartel said. "Console manufacturers understand that recent surveys indicate 60+ per cent of video game consumers would be less likely to purchase a new console that did not play pre-owned games."Also, used games generate more than $1 billion of trade credit annually, 70 per cent of which is credited towards purchasing new games and new hardware."
Sony Computer Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer the PlayStation 4 will play second-hand games, but it remains to be seen whether the Japanese company will attempt to limit their use in some way.Microsoft's next Xbox, on the other hand, is rumoured to block second-hand games entirely - although this remains unconfirmed for now. According to an Edge report from February, the next Xbox will require an internet connection to function. Microsoft is thought to be ready to announce its next-gen effort in April.It's clear why GameStop would think this a bad idea. Its business is rooted in the sale of physical media, and it does a roaring trade on second-hand sales, as do many video game shops. Any attempt to block the second-hand market would surely hurt bricks and mortar's bottom line.Whatever the case, both Microsoft and Sony are set to expand their digital games offering with their next consoles, and Bartel is bracing himself for the impact this will cause."We are excited about digital content distribution and have had great success selling it at retail," he said. "We expected, and are ready for, next-gen consoles to have a significant amount of digital content options and we'll continue to drive sales of this content through all of our channels whenever possible. We believe that PlayStation Plus is an under-leveraged asset and we are anxious to help gamers discover the rich benefits that it brings."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...are-a-bad-idea

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

NPD: Core gamers still support retail, prefer used games over digital

March 8th, 2013, 00:27 Posted By: wraggster

New NPD data shows that while core gamers are embracing digital distribution, the method hasn’t overtaken purchasing new and used physical copies of titles at retail.
The analysis group’s survey found that while 70 per cent of respondents purchase full digital titles frequently, a higher percentage prefer heading to the shops or buying physical goods from online retailers.
78 per cent purchase used games with regularity, while 88 per cent say they typically buy new games via retail. The report adds those surveyed spent an average of $129 on new physical titles during the past holiday quarter.
"Digital purchasing among core gamers has plenty of room to grow," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan in a statement. "While many core gamers indicate they are purchasing full games and digital add-on content frequently, there are those that stated they have never purchased digital content."
The 6,322 core gamers surveyed spend at least five hours a week playing traditional genres on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, or Mac. According to NPD, 14 per cent of the US population over the age of eight falls into the “core gamer” category – which works out to 37.5m people.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/npd-c...igital/0112018

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

UK consumers spent £2.9bn on games in 2012

March 8th, 2013, 00:26 Posted By: wraggster

Don't believe the doom-mongers - our latest research shows the games market is doing better than you think.
Our annual look at the total size of the games market taking into account all revenue streams shows that £2.892bn was spent on video games software, hardware and accessories in 2012.
The figures is calculated by combining last year's data from a variety of leading market trackers and analysts.
We've covered toys and merchandise, online and mobile estimates plus the classic core of boxed software, hardware and peripherals.
The total, £2.892bn, is down on last year's calculations of £3.266bn (a number which we're proud to say became a go-to statistic on market size for publishers, trade bodies and government agencies).
But the drop of 11 per cent beats the boxed product market's 26 per cent collapse.
So while console shrink dealt a blow to the revenues being spent on all forms of games and spin-offs – the boom in digital goods and merchandise shows games have an unstoppable pulse.
Although the High Street is struggling as the current generation of consoles wraps up, new research from MCV has underlined the real size of digital content versus boxed goods.
In fact the figures show that it is only this slump in console product (boxed media, accessories and hardware) - excepted by many to pick up some pace later this year with the introduction of new machines from Sony and Microsoft - that have held the market back.
Pretty much every other category shows growth or stability.
The biggest boom was in mobile games, expected to have made £234m in the UK last year - up 48 per cent.
Online gaming revenues were up 25 per cent year on year too to £655m.
That means last year 45p in every £1 was spent on online or mobile games.
Toys and merchandise revenues were up 28 per cent to £77m.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-co...n-2012/0112028

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Raspberry Pi's Eben Upton: "Programming Will Make You a Better Doctor"

March 8th, 2013, 00:16 Posted By: wraggster

After a handful of days of furtive suggestion, spring made its presence felt in London today, where the second Technology Frontiers conference got underway. The Economist-organized event sees leading technologists and cultural figures take to the podium in front of some 250 ideas-thirsty business persons. Among them was Raspberry Pi Foundation founder Eben Upton, who extolled the benefits of learning to program for all professions. He went into some detail as to the inception of the Raspberry Pi and the need for more computer programmers.

http://developers.slashdot.org/story...-better-doctor

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

DCEmu Needs Your Help

March 7th, 2013, 01:33 Posted By: wraggster

Hi all, i need your help in collecting links to coders sites that i may be missing, if you know of any homebrew/emulator news we dont post and have a link to the site pleas post the link and a small description. Just lately ive discovered a mass of Gamecube Homebrew and esp emulators that i never knew existed - check out http://gcemu.dcemu.co.uk for more info - and it makes me wonder if theres lots more out there that the big sites have either been too lazy to post or just plain didnt know about.

The sad fact is that these days theres not a lot of active homebrew news sites left or at least ones that post legal stuff.

But any links would be awesome.

Thanks for reading and visiting DCEmu.

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Old people who play video games are happier, concludes study

March 7th, 2013, 00:21 Posted By: wraggster

Old wrinklies are happier when they have video games in their lives, a new academic study has discovered.Gaming even a little bit led to higher levels of well-being, researchers at the North Carolina State University learned. It was the people without video games in their lives who exhibited more negative emotions and tended towards higher levels of depression.It suggests there's a genuine link between gaming and "better well-being and emotional functioning", commented the project's Dr. Jason Allison. The team is now planning to research whether playing video games can improve mental health in old wrinklies.
I say "old wrinklies" but it's only people aged 63 and over, which isn't that old at all. 140 people of that age took part in this study. The paper - Successful aging through digital games: Socioemotional differences between older adult gamers and Non-gamers - is available online in full if you pay.Without the fine detail I can't tell you what games were being played nor for how long. There's a picture of a Wiimote in the University's news story about the study, which is probably a strong indication, and I doubt we're talking about old wrinklies with MMO or gaming habits that usually end up being destructive.It's not a green light for granny to be raid leader in World of Warcraft, then, but it bodes well for my retirement nonetheless.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...oncludes-study

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Are triple-A games losing relevance?

March 7th, 2013, 00:17 Posted By: wraggster

A few years ago it was more an expected token gesture.

<figure style="font: 14px/21px sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; width: 300px; text-align: left; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; clear: both; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; display: block; white-space: normal; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="article-image article-image-alt article-image-300"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 5px 10px; border: 0px currentColor; left: 0px; bottom: 0px; color: rgb(238, 238, 238); line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; position: absolute; max-width: 280px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039);">Journey picked up five BAFTA trophies</figcaption></figure>

Squeezed somewhere in the schedules of awards bashes (from BAFTAs to VGAs) would sit a quiet, solitary nod to someone like Jonathan Blow. These were tangential trophies - prizes with meaningless titles like "best digital game" or "best indie", as if the likes of Braid couldn't compete on the same level as Mario.Today it's a different scene entirely. In December, The Walking Dead scooped the VGA Game of the Year Award while, on Tuesday at the glitzy BAFTA event in London, the indies completely took over.Only four traditional triple-A titles were handed the top prizes last night, dwarfed by smaller titles such as The Room, The Walking Dead, The Unfinished Swan and (in particular) the PS3 curio Journey.As we applauded the Journey co-creators as they took centre stage to collect their fifth award of the night, one developer sitting next to me said "we've now probably spent more time clapping Journey than actually playing it".Of course, whether one would classify Journey as an indie title is another matter entirely. After all, it was funded and published by Sony the same way Killzone is. But there was another, absolutely incredible moment that hit home the bigger issue. New Star Soccer, a beautiful iOS football game developed by one person (the widely loved Simon Reed) stole FIFA 13's thunder and took home Best Sports Game. David slays Goliath.Celebrating indie games may have been a token gesture several years ago, but today some award shows would look out-of-touch if they didn't give self-published games a sizable platform. It's a situation that leads to a difficult question: Are triple-A games becoming irrelevant?

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ing-relevance/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Gamers still prefer buying used to downloading

March 6th, 2013, 23:58 Posted By: wraggster

NPD finds 78% of core crowd buy second-hand often, 70% regularly go digital
Core gamers have mostly embraced digital distribution, but downloading full titles has yet to eclipse the popularity of second-hand purchases. An NPD survey found 78 percent of core gamers frequently purchase used games, compared to 70 percent who reported buying full digital games regularly.
Despite those majorities, tearing into unblemished shrinkwrap remains the standard. The NPD found 88 percent of respondents saying they regularly buy new physical copies of games at retail.
In the most recently completed holiday quarter, the NPD's core gamers--those who spend at least five hours a week playing traditional genres on a PS3, Xbox 360, PC, or Mac--spent an average of $129 on new physical games, according to the NPD. Neither used sales nor digital purchases of full games came close to that amount, with gamers spending less than half that on the often thriftier options.
The popularity of used and downloadable games may also tie into a bit of belt tightening the NPD Group found in the core crowd. 10 percent more respondents said their spending on games decreased in the past year compared to those who saw their expenditures rise.
"Digital purchasing among core gamers has plenty of room to grow," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan in a statement. "While many core gamers indicate they are purchasing full games and digital add-on content frequently, there are those that stated they have never purchased digital content."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...to-downloading

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Raspberry Pi snaps up camera add-on

March 6th, 2013, 23:34 Posted By: wraggster

Foundation calls on developers to help them refine optical input

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is developing a camera as a means for users to explore new creative horizons with the hardware.
The Raspberry Pi camera is due to go on sale in April, but right now, its makers are calling on developers to help them test the hardware in order to find its weak spots and refine them if possible.

“We want you to try to get the camera doing something imaginative,” said the Foundation in a blog post.
“Think about playing around with facial recognition; or hooking two of them up together and modging the images together to create some 3D output; or getting the camera to recognise when something enters the frame that shouldn’t be there and doing something to the image as a result. We are not looking for entries from people who just want to take pictures, however pretty they are.”
The Foundation is giving away ten prototype Pi camera boards (pictured) to users who can convince it that they will use it in weird and wonderful ways.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...erry-Pi-camera

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

DCemu News March 2013 - Sites now close to completion

March 6th, 2013, 14:57 Posted By: wraggster

Hi all, its been a neccesary journey the last few weeks, the site through a lot of factors hasnt been its normal self, the massive slowdown of the Homebrew scene, the hacking of DCEmu and the loss of downloads (which was due to the hacking and server probs) and neglect of the site.

The last few weeks i have began the major task of moving all news items back into their proper forums away from the discussion forums, then i drastically cut the number of discussion forums down to the minimum.

With the news forums, back when we first upgraded to vb4 a lot of the news forums were merged and it didnt work because if you want android news only you dont want apple news in the same forum and that goes across all forums, now we have unmerged all the news forums bar the Open Source Handhelds forum which has merged together the likes of GP32, gp2x, wiz and caanoo.

MY next major task will which will take a long while is site by site to rebuild all the downloads for every single bit of homebrew released.

DCEmu was and still is one mans dream to have a site where downloads are free and easily accessible and within the next few months ill continue to put everything back to how it once was.

The site is getting updated with news more now than it has for years and the buzz i get from it is coming back, homebrew isnt at the moment the big scene it was 6 years ago but it will still continue and DCEmu will always be at the front posting news nearly every single day onwards.

This will also be sent out in an email so for those who do get this in an email why not come back and join in with DCEmu once more.

Thanks for your time

Webmaster

DCEmu - The Homebrew and Gaming Network

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Bartendro cocktail mixing robot lands on Kickstarter, wields Raspberry Pi

March 6th, 2013, 01:53 Posted By: wraggster

If you prefer robot bartenders to lack limbs that could be used against you in the impending robopocalypse, Bartendro might be your kind of bot. After two years of building and tweaking, the folks at Party Robotics have finally polished theirRaspberry Pi-powered cocktail-making rig and have posted it to Kickstarter. Born from a need to re-create mixed drinks in perfect proportion, Bartendro uses food-grade tubing, pumps and custom-built electronics to pipe liquids out with a measurement accuracy of a milliliter. According to the projects' site, however, it can't quite handle carbonated beverages in its current state. By using a device connected to the contraption's own WiFi network, thirsty folks will be able to select drinks from a web-based interface. Mixologists, on the other hand, can leverage the control panel to customize cocktail recipes, manage dispensers and even read reports of what drinks were made and how much of which ingredients were used.
Both the hardware and the software that make up Bartendro are open source, and the team behind it even wants to create an online drink compendium that's free as in freedom and beer. The hope is that intrepid enthusiasts can hack together mods ranging from breathalyzers to a stirring or shaking mechanism. Early supporters can snatch a ShotBot with one dispenser for $249, a Bartendro with three for $375, a model toting seven for $1,199 and a fourth version carrying a whopping 15 for $2,499. However, crafty DIYers can roll their own system by pledging coin for individual dispensers and the Linux boxes that power them. The group has currently raised over $20,000, but it's aiming for $135,000 to push the bot into production. Click the bordering source link if you're inclined to chip in or hit the jump for Party Robotic's pitch video.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/b...t-kickstarter/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Razer Naga Hex gets League of Legends-flavored edition, available now for $90

March 6th, 2013, 01:50 Posted By: wraggster

You may remember Razer's Naga Hex mouse from last year, when it was introduced as a derivative of Razer's Naga MMO mouse, albeit with fewer buttons. You see, the "Hex" part of the name refers to the six buttons embedded along the left side of the mouse, intended for use as hotkeys during action-RPGs. The latest Hex retains the same uses as its former incarnation, but now it's aimed specifically at the approximately 32 millionLeague of Legends players worldwide. Of course, those six side buttons are programmable using Razer's Synapse 2.0 software, and Razer's promising 250 clicks per minute (that's quite a lot of clicking, we're told). The same 5600dpi 3.5G laser sensor drives the Naga's precision, which shows up lag-free on your screen thanks to a thread-wrapped USB wire. Take a closer look at Razer's latest branding effort below, and head to Razer's online store should you like to snag one for yourself -- it's available now for $90, and even comes with a free LoLchampion (Tryndamere). Head past the break for all the details, straight from Razer.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/r...ue-of-legends/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

rpix86 progress - Dos Emulator for Raspberry PI News

March 5th, 2013, 01:33 Posted By: wraggster

For the last week I have been working on the Sound Blaster emulation, for both rpix86 and ax86. Last Saturday I had managed to get the simple one-shot DMA digital audio working, and I then spent both Sunday and Monday trying to get the auto-init version working. I used Doom to test that, as it uses a 4096-sample buffer with an IRQ request after every 128 samples. Since it plays audio at 11.1kHz while I mix and play the audio (in both rpix86 and ax86) at 32kHz sample rate, those 128 input samples will create around 370 output samples. As I am playing the audio using two 2048-sample buffers, I needed to split the buffer filling in my audio thread so that the game has time to handle the emulated Sound Blaster IRQ and generate new samples several times during my playing of a single 2048-sample buffer. This was pretty difficult to get working correctly, as the sample creation and playing are both very time-critical functions that need to be scheduled properly to not cause any audio dropouts.
In the end I managed to get the auto-init digital audio working using a system where I generate 256 output samples at a time, and then use usleep() in the audio thread to let the main thread generate new samples that the audio thread will then play after it wakes up from the sleep. I also tested this with both 128 samples and 512 samples instead of the 256 samples, but the first one caused even more severe performance hit to the overall emulation speed, and the latter in turn caused very noticeable intermittent audio dropouts.
On Tuesday I then began working on the ADPCM audio playing routines. To test these I used Duke Nukem 2, which is a nice test bench as it uses all three different ADPCM formats (4-bit, 2-bit and also 2.6-bit). It took me several days to get this working, as I (foolishly, it turned out) based the code on the functions I had created for the old (pre-transfer-system-change) DS2x86. When testing them I realized that the algorithm I used there was seriously incorrect. When adjusting for the sample rate differences while playing ADPCM samples, it is of course NOT correct to interpolate over the original ADPCM-encoded values! I need to decoded the ADPCM samples to a separate buffer first, and only then interpolate over these decoded samples, to not cause additional artifacts to the audio. It took me up to Saturday to get the fixed routines working.
On Saturday I also implemented a system into rpix86 to automatically download 4DOS.COM if it is missing. This will help people not familiar with my DSx86 to get started with rpix86. I can not bundle 4DOS.COM into the rpix86.zip file as I do not have the rights to distribute it. Since 4DOS.COM is freeware I think there is no problem for me to add a download feature for it into rpix86 and ax86, though.
I began my work on rpix86 today by first implementing PC Speaker audio features (which was relatively easy after figuring out the proper frequency conversion value) and then worked on the one remaining SoundBlaster audio feature, direct 8-bit DAC output. I used Jill of the Jungle (which plays direct DAC audio at 6kHz for audio effects) to test this. Currently it sort of works, but the audio quality is very poor and glitchy. Since direct DAC audio is very timing-critical (it uses a timer that generates and IRQ at over 6000 times per second, where each timer IRQ generates just a single audio sample) it is not well suited to a multitasking operating system, I doubt this type of audio will ever sound very good in rpix86 or ax86. Luckily not very many games use that technique.
Today I also worked a bit on my Raspberry Pi Store page for rpix86, I even tested uploading the software there (it is not yet available for download). I think I will be able to release some sort of a work-in-progress version after I just add some more configuration options and such. Currently rpix86 is hardcoded to show graphics on the HDMI display and play audio using the analog headphone output (which is my current setup). I plan to have command line parameters to show the screen on either HDMI or the analog output, and similarly to play audio either via HDMI or analog output. Then I just need to add some usage info, describe the known problems and missing features, and then rpix86 might be ready for the first release! Could be as soon as by next weekend. :-)

http://rpix86.patrickaalto.com/rblog.html

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Raspberry Pi coming in limited edition blue, you'll have to win it to own it

March 4th, 2013, 23:35 Posted By: wraggster

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Using OpenCV with the Raspberry Pi

March 4th, 2013, 22:27 Posted By: wraggster


When we first heard of the Raspberry Pi we were elated that projects that once required a full-blown computer could now be done on a tiny, and cheap board running Linux. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much in the way of using computer vision algorithms on the Raspi, but thanks to [Lentin] the world of OpenCV is now accessable to Raspberry Pi users everywhere.
[Lentin] didn’t feel like installing OpenCV from its source, a process that takes the better part of a day. Instead, he installed it using the synaptic package manager. After connecting a webcam, [Lentin] ssh’d into his Raspi and installed a face detection example script that comes with OpenCV.
It should be noted that [Lentin]‘s install of OpenCV isn’t exactly fast, but for a lot of projects being able to update a face tracker five times a second is more than enough. Once the Raspberry Pi camera module is released the speed of face detection on a Raspi should increase dramatically, though, leading to even more useful computer vision builds with the Raspberry Pi.
http://hackaday.com/2013/03/04/using...-raspberry-pi/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

NPD: Only 29 per cent of core gamers plan on buying a next-gen console

March 4th, 2013, 22:21 Posted By: wraggster

The traditional games industry needs PS4 and Xbox 720 to be a big hit, so these new stats from NPD make for grim reading.
TechSpot reveals that a poll by the research firm suggests just 29 per cent of core gamers are currently planning on buying a next-generation machine as soon as they become available.
There are some caveats that need noting, however. Although over 6,000 people were polled only 887 of them fell into the category NPD would describe as core gamers – that being folk who play action/adventure/fighting/shooting/racing/RPG/sports games for five or more hours a week.
The industry is currently working on the presumption that the sales struggles faced by PlayStation Vita and Wii U will prove to be the exception rather than the rule.
By the end of the year – throughout which both Sony and Microsoft will have plenty of time to convince punters of their machine’s worth – we’ll likely have an idea of whether or not this is the case.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/npd-o...onsole/0111800

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here