Source: GamesBeat

Microsoft revealed more about the next generation of its DirectX graphics application-programming interfaces today.

In a presentation during Microsoft’s Windows 10 event in Redmond, Wash., Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that DirectX 12 will represent a major upgrade over the previous generation of APIs. This is the backbone graphical fidelity in PC and Xbox One games, and better performance means developers can squeeze more details and better framerates from older hardware.

“Direct X will make your games even better,” said Spencer. “For CPU-bound games, DirectX 12 will increase the performance of those games by up to 50 percent.”

To give an example of the new capabilities in DirectX 12, Spencer rolled a video of a scrolling complex cityscape running on two machines with the same hardware. One of the systems, running DirectX 11, struggled and eventually froze as the scene drew in more details, but the DirectX 12 box continued rendering the scene smoothly.

But Spencer didn’t just talk about performance.

“With DirectX 12, we also know that people are playing games on phones and other devices powered by battery,” he said. “We wanted to focus on performance but also on battery life. We’ve cut the power consumption required in half for the same scenes on Direct X 11.”

DirectX 12 will roll out with Windows 10, and Spencer revealed that Epic Games’ popular Unreal Engine will support the new standard.

Source: Blue’s News

The cancellation of season passes for Assassin’s Creed: Unity resulted in free DLC for the action/adventure sequel, but the release of new Secrets of the Revolution DLC on Steam provides the chance to buy additional content for the game, including missions, weapons, and gear. Here’s word:

The Revolution is not over, the people of Paris still need your help.

Discover the last secrets of the French Revolution with this pack including:

• 3 missions: “The Chemical Revolution”, “The American Prisoner”, and “Killed by Science”
• 8 weapons ranging from powerful rifles and pistols, to razor-sharp axes and swords
• 6 pieces of gear to equip Arno with the finest and most resistant armor

Source: The Verge

Microsoft’s Windows 10 event is just getting started, and it sounds like the company is eager to make it as easy and cheap as possible for those running older versions of Windows to upgrade. Terry Myerson just announced on stage that, for the first year after Windows 10 launches, any device running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows Phone 8.1 will be able to upgrade to the latest version of MIcrosoft’s OS — for free. How exactly this program will work isn’t clear just yet — it’ll certainly be subject to some hardware requirements, particularly for older machines running Windows 7. But a simplified upgrade path will likely do a lot to help Windows 10 adoption — rather than dealing with a number of different versions of Windows and different upgrade costs, most consumers will simply take this free update and enjoy running Microsoft’s latest.

Read on…

Vietnam ’65 Wargamer.com interview

By Nik Gaukroger @ The Wargamer

Just over a week ago Slitherine announced that a new game, Vietnam ’65, was going into beta, so we got in touch with the games developer, Johan Nagel of Every Single Soldier, to have a chat about the game and what it is all about.

Read The Interview Here

Platform’s 100 million users can now broadcast their gameplay to the world using new, Twitch-like feature.

By Eddie Makuch @ GameSpot

Steam Broadcasting, a new, Twitch-like feature that players can use to stream their games for anyone to watch, is now available to the platform’s 100 million+ users. Broadcasting was announced in early December 2014 and had previously been available to some Steam users in beta form.

The feature is currently available to all Steam users as part of the the latest client update. This patch, which will be automatically downloaded, also introduces an in-game FPS counter and lots more.

To use Steam Broadcasting, users can click “Watch Game” on their friend’s profile. Viewers don’t have to also own the game, pay a fee, or install any additional apps. Though Broadcasting was designed to highlight game clips, users can also utilize the feature to broadcast anything on their desktop.

Read more…

The mobility and tactical flexibility of aircraft carriers bring a real strategic dimension to the battle

Wargaming is excited to share a new video featuring the aircraft carrier into the game.

With the introduction of the aircraft carrier class, bringing the total class of warships up to four, players also have the chance to take advantage of stealthy destroyers, stalwart cruisers and devastating battleships. Aircraft carriers offer a unique angle to combat, delivering RTS style gameplay and the ability to launch three types of warplane squadrons (fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers) against any opponent.

To learn more about World of Warships second Beta Weekend, Click Here.

Legends tell of a great city deep in the jungle. It is rich in all the pleasures of mankind, and is so full of gold that the residents count this metal as nothing. The daring explorer that finds this city will bring glory to his king – and infinite riches to his pocket. Now Paradox Development Studio brings the adventure and politics of the Spanish conquest to life with the El Dorado expansion for Europa Universalis IV.

The centerpiece of El Dorado is the Nation Designer, a tool that let’s you customize your starting nation in a campaign. Choose your starting capital and neighboring provinces, modify your starting culture and leader and then lead this new nation to new and original heights of glory. The infinite replayability of EU4 has just gotten even more infinite, if that’s possible (the company mathematician is still on holiday).

This expansion’s historical focus on the Central American and South American theaters of exploration will challenge you with new decisions worthy of a king or conqueror. As the Aztecs, subject the Mexican plain to your rule but make sure you have enough vassal kings to sacrifice to your angry gods. As the Europeans, push deeper into the jungles of the Amazon, following rumors of lost cities and magical fountains. Defer to the Pope as he intervenes to divide the New World among squabbling empires.

Features include:

• A deep Nation Designer gives you new starting options for your games, including national ideas and custom monarchs
• Experience the new Nahuatl, Inti and Mayan religions with blood sacrifices or Sun Worship
• Send your conquistadors to hunt for the Seven Cities of Gold, or your explorer on exploration missions around the world
• Gold Fleets can traffic New World wealth back to Europe, and be targeted by your privateer fleets
• Use your trade fleets to hunt dangerous pirates
• Maintain good relations with the Pope so you can get a corner of the world to call your own in the Treaty of Tordesillas

Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado will be available on major digital delivery platforms for Windows, Mac and Linux next month.

For more information on Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado please visit the official Europa Universalis IV website.

By Sandy Bruce @ PureOC

Audio has been a major component of gaming dating all the way back to Pong and Centipede. A good soundtrack and audio reproduction adds to the overall experience of any game just as a bad soundtrack or sub par reproduction can take away from that experience. Discrete sound cards, integrated audio chips, gaming headsets and complete speakers systems are some of the more common items discussed for delivery of gaming audio. Often you will find multiple solutions in a serious gamers tool box, A gaming headset for late night gaming sessions and a speaker solution for when free to play as loud as possible. In this review we will be looking at a speaker system from GX Gaming that looks to bring full range sound to your gaming experience. The SW-2.1 2000 gaming speaker system has intriguing style but will it bring the war zone even closer to home?

Read The Review Here

By: Hilbert Hagedoorn @ GURU3D

Need a blistering fast portable USB 3.0 Flash Storage unit? Hey, join us as we review the Samsung T1 Portable SSD. It is a cute and tiny USB 3.0 storage unit weighing in at just 30 grams. Our 500 GB Test sample reached speeds well over 400 MB/sec in read and write performance. If you are on the move, this great looking device might just be what the doctor ordered!

Read The Review Here

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• COUGAR Launches 200K Gaming Keyboard
• Cooltek Announces the X4 Noise Insulated Mid-Tower Chassis
• X2 Presents the Trajan Small Gamer Enclosure
• ID-Cooling Offers Vapor Chamber CPU Cooler for Mini-ITX Systems
• Antec Officially Announces P380 Flagship Chassis
• Tesoro Partners with Infused, Launches Mousepad Line
• EKWB Indigo Xtreme ETI and Supremacy EVO Elite Now for LGA-2011-3
• Super Flower adds 1600W 80Plus Gold – Platinum and Titanium PSUs