Gamereplays.org News of All Sections

Starcraft 2 News - Starcraft 2 Content Drop

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:51:12 +0000

Lo and behold my fellow Starcraft fans - a massive update has just hit the official site of Starcraft 2, bearing many pages of fine lore and all-new screenshots, artwork, the works.

Still no word on the beta though, but do not fret, it will come eventually. Maybe.

Here's the official shoutout by Cydra:

We've just uploaded new intel to the StarCraft II website, http://www.starcraft2.com/.
This latest transmission sheds new light on the goings-on in the Koprulu sector and highlights key persons of interest associated with recent anti-Dominion activity.
In particular, this content drop includes:

Short Story: Changeling - Just because the years following the Brood War have so far been relatively uneventful, that doesn't mean it's safe out there in the cold vastness of space. Zeta Squad is about to find this out, the hard way.

Singleplayer Storytelling - Discover the ways in which StarCraft II will build on and expand the storytelling techniques of previous Blizzard titles, awaits you in this article.

Multiplayer Mapmaking - Ever wonder what design considerations and decisions go into the many multiplayer maps of StarCraft II? Check out this article to learn more!

Character Biographies: Tychus, Zeratul, Raynor - The character biographies for Raynor and Zeratul have been updated with new art and additional info, and you can now also read up on Tychus Findlay, one of Jim Raynor's old comrade-in-arms.

New Art and Screenshots - Check out more than 20 new screenshots and pieces of concept artwork! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks... check out all the new info now!Source: Cydra

Still here? Click here to see the new stuff!

Hardware News - AMD Catalyst� Software Suite 9.11

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:13:11 +0000

AMD� released the ATI� Catalyst� Software Suite 9.11, which includes version 8.671 of the Radeon� display driver and the Catalyst� Control Center.

As well as fixes for various known issues with the previous versions of the ATI� Catalyst� Software Suite , new features found in this release of the Radeon� display driver include;

GPU Acceleration of H.264 video content using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta
High Quality downscaling for video transcoding MSE

This release of ATI Catalyst� supports the new Hardware Acceleration features of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta for video encoded in the H.264 format. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta introduces hardware-based H.264 video decoding to deliver smooth video playback, reduce system resource utilization, and preserve battery life. [...] This feature is supported on the ATI Radeon HD 5800, ATI Radeon HD 5700 and ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products.Source: Excerpt from Catalyst� Software Suite Version 9.11 Release Notes

Operating Systems Supported

Windows 7 32-bit version
Windows 7 64-bit version
Windows Vista 32-bit version
Windows Vista 64-bit version
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Officially supported graphics cards and chipsets

AMD Desktop Product Family Support
ATI Radeon� HD 5800 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 5700 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4890 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4870 X2 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4850 X2 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4800 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4700 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4670 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4650 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4600 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4550 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 4350 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 3800 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 3600 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 3400 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 2900 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 2600 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 2400 Series
AMD Multimedia Family Product Support
ATI All-in-Wonder� HD
ATI Theater� HD 750
ATI Theater� 650
ATI Theater� 600
AMD FireStream� Product Family Support
AMD FireStream� 9270
AMD FireStream� 9250
AMD FireStream� 9170
AMD Chipset Product Support
ATI Radeon� HD 4200 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 3300 Series
ATI Radeon� HD 3200 Series
ATI Radeon� 3100 Series
ATI Radeon� 3000 Series

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Starcraft 2 News - Starcraft 2 Q&A Batch 55

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:47:54 +0000

So, a month has passed and another Q&A has seen the light of the fabulous internet. A whopping seven questions this time, all from different categories (stat tracking, the map editor, etc.).

Another interesting bit of Protoss lore/gameplay relations was released too:

5. In lore Protoss warp in their units and buildings from some far planet. Will there be any mechanic that reflects this such as a "warp out" that could act as a refund?

We do not have any plans to include a “warp out” game mechanic. We have discussed the possibility of this in the past, but it felt too similar to the Terran mechanics of being able to salvage the structures.Source: Cydra

Check out the Q&A on the Battle.net forums

Hardware News - NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Driver 195.55 BETA

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:43:00 +0000

NVIDIA� has released the 195.55 Beta version of their GeForce Graphics Driver for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

It includes numerous bugfixes as well as support for SLI and multi-GPU for recently released games like Modern Warfare 2 or Borderlands.

The release highlights are as follows;

New in Version 195.55

Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.
Adds support for GeForce GT 240.
Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.

Existing Support:

Supports DirectCompute with Windows 7 and GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
Supports OpenGL 3.2 for GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
Supports NVIDIA 3D Vision Discover, a complete, low cost solution to start your immersive stereoscopic 3D experience. NOTE: If you are using NVIDIA 3D Vision active shutter glasses, you must download the separate 3D Vision driver which includes the driver for the 3D Vision IR emitter.
Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards.
Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. This driver installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0814. Learn more here.
Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.

Source: NVIDIA release highlights

Officially supported graphics cards:

ION series
GeForce 6 Series
GeForce 7 Series
GeForce 8 Series
GeForce 9 Series
GeForce 100 series
GeForce 200 series

Download and notes:

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

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Rise of the Witchking News - Screenshot of the Week Winner

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:56:24 +0000

The Screenshot of the Week competition has concluded once again for the week, after 14 outstanding screenshots were entered for the theme of "The Death of a Hero"! The entries vary from the unusual, to the highly graphical, to the perfect timing moments. All of these screenshots are unique in their way. After a very close vote, one screenshot emerged as the winner.

The winner for this week, for the third time in a row, is idrinkyourblood. He is the first to receive a gold star for his efforts in the competition so far (a gold star symbolized three wins). The close runner-up, Lord Nevets, who was only one vote away from tying idrink, gets to choose the theme for this week. The competition opens again for another week as soon as his choice is made, so do not be afraid to participate!

Participate in the Screenshot of the Week Competition!

Rise of the Witchking News - A Good ol` Comeback

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:44:19 +0000

This week's Replay of the Week is an older replay that has thankfully been pushed into the popular list! We witness TeH`dcNuB as Elves versus ][pWn3D][bY_4LL as Angmar. The match takes place on High Pass, one of the few maps that's big enough to properly reflect the sheer epicness of the battle.

[replay]88695[/replay]
Both players start the game with forward production buildings: ][pWn3D][bY_4LL makes a Hall of the King's Men near the map's Outpost, while TeH`dcNuB makes a Barracks just outside of his immediate base. The early battles flood the area around the Outpost, with the Elven player building more Forward Barracks near the Outpost in an attempt to counter his opponent. The battle rages nonstop, both intense and fiercely with Elves bringing Rivendell Lancers to the front while simultaneously, Angmar calls upon Dark Rangers. As the game continues to progress, both players buy one hero each. Angmar purchases Hwaldar while the Elves call upon Glorfindel. The back and forth action near the Outpost just never seems to slow down when, all of a sudden, the Angmar player surges forth with all the power he has, wreaking terrible havoc upon his opponent's base. ][pWn3D][bY_4LL is beaten back with his opponent barely surviving at all.

"Cheers" -thepickuptruck

What will happen now? With his base destroyed, will TeH`dcNuB live up to his name? Will Angmar finish it with a single arrow or axe throw? Watch this spellbinding game for yourself to find out!

If you enjoyed the game, don't forget to browse and wub more of thepickuptruck's replays!

Hardware News - FRAPS 3.0.1 Released

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:23:33 +0000

FRAPS, the favored in-game recording software by most has been updated to version 3.0.1. Previous versions of FRAPS were only capable of recording in-game video and sound, FRAPS 3 introduces the ability to record in-game video and sound but also mix with an external input such as a microphone. This has users excited as they can now use FRAPS in conjunction with:

Skype
TeamSpeak
Ventrilo

A new and improved visual design has also been included.

The changelist is as follows:

3.0.1 - 8th Nov 2009
- Added minimize to systray option for Win7 users
- Fixed video capture frame rate defaulting to 30 fps when Fraps loads

3.0.0 - 5th Nov 2009
- DirectX 11 support
- Compatible with Windows 7 final (RTM) and RC1 versions
- Stereoscopic 3D Vision video capture up to 1920x1200 for D3D9 games
- Force lossless RGB option to always capture video in pure form
- Ability to mix both game sound and external input such as microphone (Vista/Win7 only)
Source: Official Fraps Site

Download and additional information:

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

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Hardware News - Intel: The Making of a Chip

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:58:59 +0000

A CPU is the 'brain' of every PC. Not many know how difficult it is and what a long road it takes to produce them. Intel released an illustrated overview of the individual steps a couple of months ago, and now also provides an animated video about the manufacturing of microprocessors.

In their press kit 'From Sand to Silicon: the Making of a Chip' you can follow many of the steps, starting with sand, and ending with the retail box in your local stores. Sadly, descriptions for each step are only available in the pdf illustration.

Download the video, pictures, or the illustration as .pdf

Intel Press kit 'From Sand to Silicon: the Making of a Chip'

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

Visit The Hardware Portal

Hardware News - Firefox 3.6 Beta 2

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:27:39 +0000

The Mozilla Corporation recently released Firefox 3.6 Beta 2 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. This revision includes more than 190 bug fixes from the last beta, which improve performance, stability, and security.

Add-on compatibility hasn't been fully tested yet.

Features:

Available in 45 languages
Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML 5
Improved JavaScript performance
Out-of-date-plugin alerts
Web Open Font Format Support
Remade full-screen view of videos

Download and notes:

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

Visit The Hardware Portal

Rise of the Witchking News - Rise of the Witch-King Ladder Update #19

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:01:44 +0000

It's been a week since the last Rise of the Witch-King 1v1 Ladder update and already changes are seen in the top ten players on the ladder. For instance, the top player has changed again:

KarshTheWraith has shockingly dropped his rank to 6th place resulting in a new person taking the crown for the time being. XZipX from 4th place has now snatched first place moving KarshTheWraith to 6th place. Although XZipX is top at this time, Divine|Elladan remains second place with near enough the same ELO points as XZipX.

The points vary from 1792 to 1704 between the first place and tenth place player, which really isn't quite a lot. Nevertheless, it is harder to advance ranks when you are already this high up on the ladder (unless you get matched up with other top players a few times). Some top players are also inactive which makes this harder. It looks like the ladder is far from dead yet, and although some players go inactive, others replace them, so stay tuned for next week's report to see what happens!

Visit the Rise of the Witch-King 1v1 Ladder to see the players and their positions on the ladder.

Hardware News - Dedicated Servers Not Supported in Rage

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:11:52 +0000

Rage, an upcoming first person shooter by id Software (the same folks who brought you Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake) decided it is going to pull an 'Infinity Ward', also known as not supporting dedicated servers for the multiplayer portion of Rage.

While Infinity Ward is using a matchmaking Peer 2 Peer based system for Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, id Software still is not quite sure what it is going to use for Rage, except it is going to be something old school PC gamers can remember.

Dedicated servers mean everything to PC gamers; they want a place for the clans to hang out, and without that, it is as if it is set in stone that Rage won't be popular unless it features some incredibly unique gameplay.

Related Links:

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

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CoH News - Company of Heroes Cross of Iron Mod

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:46:44 +0000

Another Company of Heroes expansion mod has been released called Company of Heroes: Cross of Iron. The mod's main goals are to balance the four factions and their respective doctrines and to better the historical accuracy. Cross of Iron will have new features such as abilities and upgrades for each doctrine, new building options and some unit fixes and upgrades.

Some examples of the mod's changes include:

Knights Cross Holders will be available only with the Terror Doctrine.
The Panther will need an extra phase in order to unlock it
US gets a Bazooka squad to counter the Axis armor.
Army skins will be added to distinguish one army from another, with different
camouflage patterns and equipment.

The size of the file is 286.99 MB and it's available to be downloaded by fans. Thanks to the developers, the Company of Heroes community will once again have another mod to explore and enjoy.

RotWK Unofficial 2.02 News - RotWK Question Topic Opened

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:15:43 +0000

Ever wondered how much health neutral tech structures have compared to each other? Which Sorcerer spells, if any, have recharge times, and which don't? Which fire breath attacks kill units garrisoned in towers, and which simply destroy the tower but not the units inside? To find out the answers to these and any other RotWK-related questions you may have, you'll want to ask in the new RotWK Question Topic, where GameReplays members can receive answers to any RotWK-related questions from knowledgeable GameReplays staff.

The primary purpose of the discussion topic is to teach differences between the 2.02 and 2.01 by answering each question as it relates to both patches whenever possible. Because of this, the thread is open to both 2.01 and 2.02 players, and players of both patches will receive answers that will interest them. The thread may be located in the 2.02 forum (as this is a better place to discuss differences between the patches), but 2.01 players should feel welcome asking any questions of interest as well! Using the same thread for both communities is a first step towards one of GameReplays' new policy goals: bringing the 2.01 and 2.02 communities closer together.

Visit the RotWK Question Topic pinned in 2.02 General Discussion!

Red Alert 3 News - Red Alert 3 Mentor Program Sign-Up Now Open

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:32:03 +0000

Feeling down in the dumps about RA3? Can't seem to win a game? Bashed by pros left and right until you can't take it anymore?

Well, you're in luck! Gamereplays.org is proud to announce another round of Red Alert 3 mentoring! This is an excellent opportunity for novice and amateur players to speak and play with a top player in the Red Alert 3 community. Strategy, technique, micro, macro, and anything you can think of are all actively discussed in our mentoring forums. Post replays, vent about bad games, and learn from the best as you improve your understanding of Red Alert 3!

Anyone interested in participating as either a mentor OR a mentee must sign up in the official Mentoring Sign-Up Thread. Please make sure to follow the template and include especially rank, skill level, and time zone. Mentees will then be matched with an appropriate mentor and the learning will be on its way. Remember: you only have a couple weeks to sign up before mentoring begins or you'll miss this round altogether!

Rise of the Witchking News - Replay of the Week

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:56:47 +0000

This week will show the recommencement of the Replay of the Week Portal announcements for Rise of the Witch King! This past week gave rise to an exciting replay showing a battle on the fields of Buckland between WtFiSwRNgWiThMe and sFs|FaLLeN as Angmar and Angmar, against [RiSe]OfAnger and kazjon as Dwarves and Elves.

[replay]100151[/replay]

The game is an intense match, kazjon rushes cavalry and defends an early Gundabad rush as [RiSe]ofAnger attacks sFs|FaLLeN's exposed base. It seems that after a well coordinated rush from the southern team, that they have an edge, but Angmar is an extremely potent faction in early game, and through some very impressive micromanagement from sFs|FaLLeN, the northern team survives the danger period and pushes back. The game develops into a very exciting and fast paced back and forth match that calls on twin Hwaldars, Morgomir from sFs|FaLLeN and Rogash from WtFiSwRNgWiThMe as the Elven forces under kazjon are led by Glorfindel while simultaneously the Dwarves depend on Brand to sharp shoot enemy thralls. Eventually we see dual Shades of Wolfs along with a desperate Ent Summon for an enthralling finale!

Don't forget watch and wub this exciting match, and check out the rest of -FaLLeN's Replays!

Rise of the Witchking News - Screenshot of the Week Winner

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:49:40 +0000

The Screenshot of the Week competition continues to occur. Oftentimes, the same few people work hard to provide outstanding screenshots to try to create the Screenshot of the Week. The results are in for the previous week.

The winner of this week, for the second week in a row, is idrinkyourblood. His screenshot involving a flying crippled Shelob above a a deadly Goblin battlefield. Idrink now has a silver star for his double victory and gets to choose the theme for next week (just like he chose the theme for last week). Another week awaits, with hopefully more excellent entries!

Participate in the Screenshot of the Week Competition!

Starcraft 2 News - Starcraft 2 Beta Delayed

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:47:02 +0000

For those of you hoping for the beta to see light this year, including me, prepare to be disappointed, for Blizzard's Chris Sigaty has confirmed at this year's Igromir that Starcraft 2 will indeed be pushed back to 2010.

I am saddened to say that this is the only quite worthwhile news piece around, but still - better late than never. Our beloved colleagues at Starcraft: Legacy have made an excellent overview of the event. Check out the links below.

CoH News - vCoH Tourney XIII Day Two & Three After Action Report

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:49:46 +0000

Welcome once again ladies and gentlemen to the GameReplays.org vCoH Tourney XIII Final After Action Report. The final teams remaining after day two were team Beers and Girls and Sent From Heaven. Beers and Girls made it into the finals just as everyone thought, dismissing their opponents with relative ease. They lost just once on their way to the finals. This dynamic duo of laFeeDesBieres and C6Petio beat several skilled team on the way to the top. Sent From Heaven, comprised of Company of Heroes Expert ntd and ex-SdKfz member Ra11 (who went undefeated with Noobishtactic in 2v2 AT for almost 150 games) made it to the finals undefeated. Both of these teams are the best of the best and pulled no punches in this final day of gaming.

And after the smoke cleared from today's battlefield, the victorious team of The 2v2 vCoH Tourney XIII emerged: Sent From Heaven! Congratulations to ntd and Ra11 for their 2-0 victory over Beers and Girls!

Day Two Highlights:

Team EPIC fights viciously against RUKA for every inch of ground. Tied at 1-1, RUKA comes through in the clutch in game three. Definitely the game of the day and the replay to watch.

[replay]100872[/replay]
Sent from Heaven knocks out the Siou & Kll and Rising Gamers. At this point, SfH is going into the final round without a single loss.
BGs struggle in the first game versus EXIT, but manage to clutch and win the next two games. Going into the final, BGs have one loss.

[replay]100863[/replay]
The RoM team of Siou and Kll take down Reborn in a surprising 2-0 victory.
RUKA defeats Siou and Kll after just one game, the RoM based team saying that they lacked motivation to play any further.

Day Three Highlights: The Final between Beers and Girls and Sent Form Heaven

Game One: The first game of the final has BG as Axis and SfH as Allies. Ra11 goes for a Barracks to Motor Pool build and ntd goes for a surprising WSC to Tank Depot tech. The Armor Company and Infantry Doctrines are chosen by the Allies in hopes of using artillery and Calliopes to pound the Axis forces into the dust. On the Axis side, C6Petio uses a T3 to T4 Terror build with triple Nebelwerfers as a response to the Allied artillery. laFeeDesBieres tries in vain to use T2 Defensive to hold back the Allied Armor hordes, yet PaKs alone were not enough to stop the Armor as the endless off-map artillery and Calliope Barrages destroyed them. Game one goes to SfH, with a final VP score of 465-0.

[replay]100976[/replay]
Game Two: Game two was a lot like game one� only with the players reversed! ntd took a T3 Defensive approach while Ra11 goes T2 Terror. laFeeDesBieres goes Infantry with Barracks to Motor Poll and C6Petio tries to use the same WSC to TD approach with Armor that ntd does in the first game. Unfortunately for BG, the Allied strategy that worked so well in the first game is not enough to stop SfH and the game ends in less than 30 minutes in the ArX team�s favor!

[replay]100977[/replay]

The Final Brackets:

(click on the image to open up a larger version)

But wait! The winners of the previous 2v2 tournament have challenged SfH. Team Epsilon (Rainbowsix007 and OinkOink) are a feared 2v2 team and the winners of our last 2v2 tourney here at GR. They are well known for their powerful Dual Wehr strategy and being able to communicate perfectly even without microphones! Hopefully SfH accepts so we can see some more awesome games!

Make sure to check out the screenshot and just for fun thread!

Thank you everyone for partaking in this epic event! Special shout-outs go to Ami, OnkelSam, TrouserDemon and all the people that worked so hard to make this event possible!

CoH News - vCoH Tourney XIII Day One After Action Report.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:30:02 +0000

Important Note: Before the After Action Report a quick announcement: if you are competing in the tournament, read these rules! Note that round 3 games do not need screenshots!

Hello once again ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the After Action Report: Day One of GameReplay.org's vCoH 2v2 Tournament. It has been an exciting day of competitive gaming with several close match-ups and some tight finishes. Let's take a look at some of them.

Today's Highlights:

Two heavyweight teams square off during round 3. Team Reborn (Budwise and GosuStarcraft) face off against the second seed team composed of ex-SdKfz. member FreestyIer and high ranking player 2426(better known as Umaril2). The Reborn team kicks it into high gear, destroying FreestyIer and 2426 in both games. Game one is a must see; the Reborn team clutches when it matters most, overcoming a Wehr late game composed of two King Tigers and a sea of vetted Grens.

[replay]100746[/replay]
Once again, the Beer and Girls team puts team RUKA (Ground and swiex) down for the count. If everyone remembers the last tourney, this is d�j� vu. Team RUKA will most certainly be putting Beer and Girls on their hit list.

[replay]100757[/replay]
Two ex-aSII members (gamm0rrr and LoveTheGame) go up against two members of the 2v2 clan, DrinkII. Game two is an excellent match-up, containing exemplary use of armor in this close game between two 2v2 clans. gamm0rrr and LoveTheGame then lose their next game to the EXIT clan.

[replay]100743[/replay]
Props to two of GameReplays.org's strat mods making through to round 4! Siou and kllthdyrctr come out of nowhere to beat several skilled teams. Team BlobCap goes down on PDH to this dynamic duo.

[replay]100718[/replay]
RUKA3 goes up against WoH-TnT in another round 3 game. In an exciting trio of games, ex-BAW member Guderian leads his team to a 2-1 victory over the WoH team. Look for some impressive action in this massive 1+ mB game.

[replay]100770[/replay]
ntd's team, Send From Heaven, advances into round 4 by default as Reborn2 forfeits.
It doesn't get much closer than this next match-up! Team EPIC (12azor and 13laded) goes up against YetAnotherTeam (SdKfz. member Seb aka MonsieurX and his partner UsPostal). It came down to the close game three where EPIC manages to come home with a victory. But wait, there is a twist to game three. MonsieurX plays against EPIC by himself! That's right ladies and gentlemen, UsPostal drops at around 12 minutes but MonsieurX goes out with a bang, delaying the EPIC team for another 20 minutes.

[replay]100761[/replay]

A Preview of Tomorrow's Match-Ups:

RUKA3, who have been looking quite strong go up against expert team EPIC, team EPIC being a fan favorite from previous events. But RUKA3 is not to be underestimated and will do everything in their power to unseat the powerful duo of 12azor and 13lade.
Two RoM strat mods plus a Reborn strat mod and his clan mate equals a highly anticipated series of games for Round 4: Reborn vs. Siou/kll. These two up and coming teams know they have a chance to go big here.
Starting strong, team Beer and Girls will play the EXIT team.
Tied at 1-1 are vCoH and Rising Gamers. This series looks to be close so make sure to check out the results in the morning!

Today's Updated Brackets:

(click on the image to open up a larger version)

Today's MVP: BudwiseReborn

I've played with Budwise before and he is a superb leader and supreme tactician. It showed today as Budwise went big, ranking up multiple vet3 US snipers in his games verse FreestyIer and 2426.

Day one has gone off as smoothly as ever. Special thanks to AmiPolizeiFunk, tourneys are impossible without him. Let's keep up the good work and remember those screenshots people!

Rise of the Witchking News - Rise of the Witch-King Ladder Update #18

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:06:19 +0000

It's been a week since the last Rise of the Witch-King 1v1 Ladder update and already changes are seen in the top ten players on the ladder. For instance, the top player has changed again:

KarshTheWraith is once again the top player. After narrowly getting ahead of Divine_Elladan by two points, he is now once again where he was quite a long time ago. He has been first place for quite a while, but when Elladan got active he soon lost the position for some time. Now it seems things are very close, so while Elladan is second again, he can still easily take the first place position once again.

The points vary from 1784 to 1694 between the first place and tenth place player, which really isn't quite a lot. Nevertheless, it is harder to advance ranks when you are already this high up on the ladder (unless you get matched up with other top players a few times). Some top players are also inactive which makes this harder. It looks like the ladder is far from dead yet, and although some players go inactive, others replace them, so stay tuned for next week's report to see what happens!

Visit the Rise of the Witch-King 1v1 Ladder to see the players and their positions on the ladder.

RotWK Unofficial 2.02 News - Pick The Day!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:23:10 +0000

It's time to decide which day will be The Day. Please let us know which days you can and can't participate in our Pick The Day Thread.

It is also vitally important that you spread the word to as many other 2.02 players as possible, especially older players who are not longer playing, so that they know about The Day and can vote in the topic as well. We need a strong showing of support from very many people early on to achieve the momentum we need to make The Day a success!

If you're not familiar with The Day, it is an effort to revive the RotWK community. Read more about The Day

CoH News - vCoH Tourney XIII - Player's Check-List

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:16:03 +0000

With the vCOH 2vs2 Tourney starting on Saturday, we want to remind every player/team of their responsibilities. You need to know where to be, how to communicate, and how to upload your replays to the Replays section and bbcode-link to them in your thread in the Tournament Forums.

When does the tourney start?

Everyone has to arrive 15 minutes before the first Round starts. This is very important for a fluid process! If you're not sure about translating GMT times into your time zone, have a look at the Countdown Timer.

Map list:
Saturday November 7th (all times GMT)
6:00pm: R1 (64) - Wolfheze
7:30pm: R2 (32) - Point du Hoc
9:00pm: R3 (16) - Lorraine
Sunday November 8th
7:00pm: Quarter-Finals (8) - Mc Gechaen's War
8:30pm: Semi-Finals (4) - Duclair
Monday November 9th
7pm: Third Place Game (2) - Rails & Metal
7pm: Final (2) - Rails & Metal

Who am I playing against?

We had to rebuild the tournament on the tourney site due to a bug. Not exactly how OnkelSam and I planned to spend our Friday night! When it's ready, you will be able to see your opponents in the Tourney Site Brackets. To see who're you're playing right now, check out OnkelSam's beautifully illustrated Tourney XIII Poster.

The names that appear in the brackets are the same as the player's respective RelicOnline Profile. Use "/addfriend" on RelicOnline & get in contact with them early. You should also create a thread in the tourney forums, titled like this example: "R1: Team GR.org vs Team Relic" early, to keep us Referees updated about the progress, i.e. if your round takes longer than expected.

How do I report results?

Both players of a team must save every replay during the tournament. This is part of our anti-cheat measures.

For the winning team of a round (best of 3), one player (Player A) will always have to upload all replays of that round to the replay section and bbcode link them to the tournament thread. Follow the tutorial below for detailed instructions.

New for this tourney - when uploading Replays, be sure to select "GR vCOH Tourney XIII" as the game event!

The other player of that team (Player B) will have to upload and attach his versions of the replays for the same games, that player A just bbcode linked, directly to the same thread in the tourney forums.

For Player (A): If you don't know how to bbcode link a replay to your tourney forum thread, then either read this tutorial for detailed instructions, or watch this video-tutorial:

Where can I find quick help on the tourney day?

We will meet in 2 channels on Relic Online. There will always be one Tourney Moderator (Referee) in those channels. You can use "/whisper" to ask them questions. Because of the number of participants, we will split Saturday's brackets into 2 channels:

The first 32 teams in the top bracket should meet AmiPolizeiFunk in the London channel (Beers&Girls to EPIC).
The last 32 teams in the bottom bracket should meet OnkelSam in the Hanoi channel (SendFromHeaven to Freestyler&Umaril).

On Sunday we will all meet in the London channel. Best of luck to all participants.

Hardware News - AMD Attacks NVIDIA Sponsorship Practices

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:36:37 +0000

In an interesting twist on the AMD vs NVIDIA saga, there is a very public discussion ongoing over at the HEXUS.community forums between AMD and NVIDIA representatives.

Richard Huddy Worldwide Developer Relations Manager, AMD's GPU Division, recently told HEXUS it looks to him as if NVIDIA is "somewhat abandoning the gaming market" and that "it appears NVIDIA is in a kind of sneering mode towards game players at the moment".

Richard Huddy was speaking to HEXUS about the NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, which focused mainly on supercomputing and GPGPU computing for academic purposes, and the complete reversal from the previous NVISION event, which was focused towards gamers.

It should be noted that the NVISION event only started a year previously. Jen-Hsun Huang, the CEO and co-founder of NVIDIA has reported that it should return in 2010 in a recent interview.

However the comments by Richard Huddy did manage to provoke an interesting string of public responses between himself and Lars Weinand, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, NVIDIA EMEA. We'll quote these verbatim so they are not taken out of context.

Hi,

it's an interresting opinion from Mr. Huddy but it's definately not true that NVIDIA is abandoning the gaming market. What Mr. Huddy describes is what is commonly known as "growth". We are on the route to GPU computing since the introduction of our CUDA architecture with GeForce 8000 series. Our leadership in GPU computing allows us to adress additional markets. GeForce 8800GTX was a very popular and successful gaming card and so are our current generation GPUs. Our next generation solution will follow in that tradion: for games with full DirectX 11, 3DVision and PhysX Support as well as GPU computing with support for OpenCL, Direct Compute, Cuda C, Cuda C++ and more. We also fully support all new technologies, like GPU support for Bullet Physics engine. Bullet is running on CUDA for over a year and is using many open source GPU algorithms from our CUDA and OpenCL SDKs.

Technologies like 3D Vision and PhysX are unique features and technologies made by gamers for gamers and we're not intending to change this. Our Devtech team is working closely with game develeopers all over the world, to ensure best support and compatibility of our GPUs for the latest games. If you're interrested to hear more on how NVIDIA works with game delvelopers, please feel free to watch the latest comments from Tony Tamasi on this topic.
blogs.nvidia.com/nTersect

There is no reason to belive NVIDIA would abandon gamers. People working at NVIDIA are gamers.

Source: Lars Weinand Snr Technical Marketing Manager, NVIDIA EMEA

Hi Lars,

Nice to hear something positive about DirectX 11 from NVIDIA for once!

Let me respond to those sections in turn.

(1) The positive mention of DX11 is a rarity in recent communications from NVIDIA - except perhaps in their messaging that 'DirectX 11 doesn't matter'. For example I don't remember Jensen or others mentioning tessellation (they biggest of the new hardware features) from the stage at GTC. In fact if reports are to be trusted only one game was shown on stage during the whole conference - hardly what I would call treating gaming as a priority!

(2) The tech of PhysX has still yet to gain any significant traction. I note from the most recent NPD sales figures that "Batman AA" figures at 96th place in the PC charts and yet that seems to be NVIDIA's ' showcase' for PhysX. I suspect gaming physics will be better adopted when as an industry we move away from the divisive proprietary standards that Lars advocates so heavily. [I note that you mentioned CUDA no fewer than five times - more than any other technology that you chose to mention!]

(3) There's every reason to believe that NVIDIA is moving its focus away from gaming. I'll list just a few:

Not making it a priority at GTC is the obvious one.
Arguing against the relevance of DX11 is another.
Arguing, as NVIDIA did, that AMD working with Codemasters to add DX11 to DiRT2 is harming gamers is another.
NVIDIA's behaviour in locking something as trivial as antialiasing to its own hardware (in Batman Arkham Asylum) shows that NVIDIA cares much more about money then gamers.
AMD is already working with games developers on over 20 forthcoming games which feature DX11 tech. NVIDIA has been nowhere to be seen! And we're doing that while offering the world's best support for DirectX 9, 10 and 10.1 games too!
NVIDIA is late to deliver DirectX 11 hardware to market.

If you don't agree with my fourth bullet point above then I'd guess you'd probably argue that AMD should lock DX11 functionality to its own hardware, yes? Something we haven't done!

You talk about your purported "leadership in GPU computing" but today that's simply an empty claim.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Whose is the world's fastest available gaming GPU?
2. Which is the first and only company selling DirectX 11 GPUs?
3. Which company sells the GPU with the highest compute power?

I think if you look at the facts you'll have to concede that GPU leadership is presently AMD's - because the answer to every one of these questions is simply "AMD".
Source: Richard Huddy Worldwide Developer Relations Manager, AMD's GPU Division

As some of you may be aware, there have been issues reported from various sites involved in benchmarking new hardware, of the amount of trouble enabling Multisampling Anti-Aliasing in the Eidos title, Batman: Arkham Asylum, a game sponsored by NVIDIA under the TWIMTBP program.

NVIDIA was reported to have locked in-game enabling of Anti-Aliasing to NVIDIA hardware, leaving ATI users to use the brute force option of using Catalyst to enable Anti-Aliasing. While Anti-Aliasing still works, it involves a lot of extra work for ATI hardware, skewing benchmark results in favour of NVIDIA hardware.

Lars Weinand and Richard Huddy went on to have a very public discussion on this very subject.

[...]Batman AA is not our property. It is owned by Eidos. It is up to Eidos to decide the fate of a feature that AMD refused to contribute too and QA for their customers, not NVIDIA.

If it is relatively trivial, Mr. Huddy should have done it himself. The Unreal engine does not support in game AA, so we added it and QAed it for our customers. As Eidos confirmed (Not allowed to post links here, but check PCper for Eidos' statement) AMD refused the same opportunity to support gamers with AA on AMD GPUs. I'm sure Mr. Huddy knows how important QA is for game developers. I recommend AMD starts working with developers to make their HW work in a proper way. That's not our job. We added functionality for NVIDIA GPUs into the game. We did not lock anything out. AMD just did not do their work. This happened with previous UE3 engine titles before, where ATI owners had to rename the executable to make AA work on that title (Bioshock in example). It�s not NVIDIA to blame here.[...]Source: Lars Weinand Snr Technical Marketing Manager, NVIDIA EMEA

Lars,

Many of the points you've come back with have been well dealt with by other people here, but there is one snippet that deserves a swift response from me.

[...]

I�m surprised and pleased by authorised NVIDIA spokesperson Lars Weinand�s clarification that �Batman AA is not our property. It is owned by Eidos. It is up to Eidos to decide the fate of a feature that AMD refused to contribute too and QA for their customers, not NVIDIA.�

AMD received an email dated Sept 29th at 5:22pm from Mr. Lee Singleton General Manager at Eidos Game Studios who stated that Eidos� legal department is preventing Eidos from allowing ATI cards to run in-game antialiasing in Batman Arkham Asylum due to NVIDIA IP ownership issues over the antialiasing code, and that they are not permitted to remove the vendor ID filter.

NVIDIA has done the right thing in bowing to public pressure to renounce anti-competitive sponsorship practices and given Eidos a clear mandate to remove the vendor ID detect code that is unfairly preventing many of Eidos� customers from using in-game AA, as per Mr. Weinand�s comments. I would encourage Mr. Singleton at Eidos to move quickly and decisively to remove NVIDIA�s vendor ID detection.

It�s also worth noting here that AMD have made efforts both pre-release and post-release to allow Eidos to enable the in-game antialiasing code - there was no refusal on AMD�s part to enable in game AA IP in a timely manner.

I trust that you will also confirm that no similar activity will take place on any other games?

Richard Huddy, Worldwide Developer Relations Manager, AMD's GPU Division
Source: Richard Huddy Worldwide Developer Relations Manager, AMD's GPU Division

HEXUS took the chance to confirm what was being claimed by Richard Huddy was in fact accurate, and kindly posted an exchange of emails between AMD and Eidos over the issue of being locked out of in game Anti-aliasing.

While it is nothing new to see AMD and NVIDIA go head to head in public, it currently seems like NVIDIA has walked away from this round with a bloody nose. We would like to hear your views on the NVIDIA practice of locking a DirectX API feature to it's own hardware.

For more information and to read the full content of discussions;

HEXUS - AMD exec says NVIDIA neglecting gamers

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

Visit The Hardware Portal

CoH News - vCoH Tourney XIII: The Seeds Are In

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:58:06 +0000

After following these tournaments as a faithful fan of the site and fan of the game, you now understand everything there is to know about the modern tournament system. If your teacher was to ask you, "What does single elimination mean?", you would be the first kid in class to raise your hand. You could talk at length about rounds vs. games, Best-of-3 vs. Best-of-5, faction choice in the deciding game, red vs. blue next to your name on the tourney site, prize percentage distribution, e-sports coverage, bbcode replay linking, game tactics, interview tactics, and you could probably write a "Who will win the tournament?" poll in your sleep.

But could you seed a Vanilla CoH Team 2v2 Tournament? You could try, but chances are, you would fail miserably. Ask your common man in the street what his seeds would be, and your sides would split and your belly would ache from laughing as he stumbled through his Top 20. In fact, no single person could come up with even adequate results, and few souls even understand how important proper seeding is to a single elimination tournament. I've read posts (on other websites of course, where we find less educated users, never here, oh no, no way) complaining that something must be wrong because none of the top teams have to face each other in the first round! I know, I know! It burns your eyes just to read that kind of tournament ineptitude! But don't worry, because we will take care of you.

I am proud to announce the results of an epic collaboration between the entire CoH staff, from the Director, to the Tournament Referees, to the Strategy Specialists. We have poured over your replays, scrutinized your 1v1, 2v2, and 2v2AT ranks on Relic Online, looked up your tournament history in our vaults, and we even asked your dog, "How good is this kid at Vanilla Team 2v2? Can he time a flank from four directions precisely with his team mate? Does he instinctively repair his buddy's vehicles without even thinking about it? Will he rush his jeep up to block a bike that is chasing down his partner's retreating double-vet sniper?!?" For these 20 teams, Fido said "Woof!", and then proceeded to lick up the left-overs from your ice cream bowl.

The Seeds

Beers & Girls (C6Petio & LaFeeDesBieres)
Freestyler&Umaril (Freestyler & 2426)
Send from Heaven (ArXRa11 & ntd)
EPIC (12azor & 13laded)
Ruka#3 (ISSIGuderian & RUKAclKot)
vCoH (Marcus2389 & Terrificante)
Kll & Siou (Siou & kllthdyrctr)
WoH Team 1 (WoHIShark & WoHIEisenVolk)
NoobsFlyingHigh (gam0rrr & LoveTheGame)
RUKA#2 (GroundV7 & GoGa)
CommerciallyAvailable (GerryHYH & M4rs )
EXITI (IIEXITIIISlay33 & IIEXITIIIBartonPL )
Blumpany (GusHers & Bravo1Echo)
Rising Gamers (AcidSkift3kk & pureehatred)
WoH-TnT (WoHIJagdgeschwader52 & WoHITorstiVonEbi)
Yet Another Team (MonsieurX & UsPostal)
Khemruce (duhKhem & teambruce)
Reborn (BudwiseReborn & BlueTraine)
ZimmerFrei (AvD & SodR)
B2C (SCORPION69 & Scoia)

As for the brackets, we won't be releasing them until Friday November 6th. Once we "start the tournament" on the Tournament Website (which generates the brackets and match-ups), we can't manually swap the teams around as people drop out and are replaced by teams from the waiting list. So you'll just have to sit tight for two more days before you see who you will fight! The brackets, as well as a final Player's Checklist, will be newsposted on Friday.

Hardware News - Google Chrome 4.0 Beta

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:38:38 +0000

Google has released the beta version of their web browser Chrome 4.0 for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista. It comes with speed improvements of 30% (compared to Chrome 3.0) and one new main feature: bookmark synchronization (similar to the one of Opera 9.5 or later).

Once you've activated Google Chrome bookmark sync on each of your computers, any changes you make to your bookmarks will appear on all synced computers in just a few seconds. [...]Source: Google Chrome Blog

To use this new feature a Google account is required as well as the manual activation via 'Sync my bookmarks ...' in the configuration menu.

Download and more information:

Keep yourself updated on the latest Hardware and Technology news here at; Gamereplays.org.

Visit The Hardware Portal