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Just Announced Hardware for 13 August 2014

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.

Hardware | Donster | August 13, 2014 |

New Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Multiplayer Delivers Game Changing Experience

All-new Exoskeleton Abilities Take Call of Duty to New Level, Unprecedented Customization Revolutionizes Player Personalization

Activision and Sledgehammer Games today unveiled a new era for Call of Duty with the world premiere of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare multiplayer. Built for next generation gaming systems, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare fundamentally changes Call of Duty multiplayer, delivering new player movements and capabilities, along with the deepest customization and player engagement features in franchise history.

With the all-new exoskeleton, players can boost jump, dodge, dash, slide, slam and more as the action goes vertical, while using future-tech, cutting-edge capabilities and a brand-new weapon class as part of nearly 350 custom weapons. Offering a new reward system, including more than 1,000 in-game player rewards, and nearly limitless customization options that create more than 2 billion unique player combinations and more, the title offers the most in-depth, robust and advanced Call of Duty multiplayer experience ever on both next generation and current generation systems.

In addition to the multiplayer premiere, Activision today announced the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero Edition, which offers fans for the first time 24-hour early access to the game starting November 3rd. The Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero Edition is available on all platforms to customers who pre-order the game and pick up on day zero – at no added cost. Collector’s Edition copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will also be available for Day Zero early purchase and play, and will include the special Day Zero Edition content. In addition to the early access of up to 24 hours in some territories, the Day Zero Edition also includes two new, custom weapons as well as the previously announced Advanced Arsenal incentive.

For more information, visit the official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Website.

Metro Redux – “Uncovered” Video

Source: Gamer’s Hell

Deep Silver and 4A Games have launched a new video for Metro Redux, which will hit stores on the 26th August in the US, and the 29th August in Europe. The boxed copy of Metro Redux contains remastered versions of both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, with all previously released add-on content. Both campaigns can be tackled in ‘Spartan’ or ‘Survival’ play styles, and the legendary Ranger Mode is also included in both games. Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux are also available separately as digital download only.

First-Person Shooters Metro Redux/Last Light/2033 | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

Hearts of Iron IV is Now Enlisting Fans in “Rush to the Front” Reward Campaign

New Trailer Reveals First-ever In-engine Footage to the General Public

Paradox Interactive today invited strategists and warmongers everywhere to enlist in the “Rush to the Front” reward campaign for Hearts of Iron IV, the upcoming World War II strategy game from Paradox Development Studio. Armies are massing as the world prepares to rewrite the greatest conflict in history, and Hearts of Iron fans can unlock exclusive rewards by winning over recruits to their side.

Simply by visiting the Hearts of Iron website at heartsofiron4.com, ambitious generals can join one of three factions: The Axis, the Allies, or the Comintern. The more members each faction recruits, the more rewards will ultimately be unlocked for all fans, and fans who recruit 20 or more soldiers will have the chance gain access to the Hearts of Iron IV beta. For more details, please visit heartsofiron4.com.

A new trailer today for Hearts of Iron IV has been revealed, displaying in-engine footage of the game’s new strategic planning system for the first time ever.

Witness history in the re-making HERE.

Hearts of Iron IV challenges players to face the brutal conflict of World War II in a multifaceted grand strategy game, where history can be fully relived or rewritten from the perspective of a global superpower attempting to change the world – or a small nation simply trying to survive.

Strategy fans will discover the most authentic real-time simulation of World War II to date, with authentic historical figures battling on land, sea, and air with period-accurate armies, vehicles, and newly discovered weapons of mass destruction – along with plenty of diplomatic and trade tactics.

Hearts of Iron IV Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy and Combat Mission: Fortress Italy 3.0 Upgrades

Gentlemen, upgrade your war! The 3.0 Upgrades for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy and Combat Mission: Fortress Italy are finally here! The Upgrades convert and upgrade your existing games (and any installed modules) automagically to include most of the advanced new CMx2 v3.00 game features! (This includes features you may already know and enjoy in Combat Mission: Red Thunder and makes them available for Normandy and Italy!)

Visit the Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy news page at Battlefront.com for more upgrade information!

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Combat Mission: Fortress Italy Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

PNY GTX 780 Ti XLR8 OC Single & SLI Review

Author: SKYMTL @ Hardware Canucks

Though they are normally associated with being one of the few board partners entrusted with NVIDIA’s Quadro lineup, PNY also has a relatively large and expanding stable of GeForce products as well. The GTX 780 Ti XLR8 OC is their flagship single GPU card and while it doesn’t have a well-marketed name like Classified, Matrix, Lightning or Super Overclock but unlike those indirect competitors, its price is quite a bit lower. PNY intends the XLR8 OC series to compete against the likes of ASUS’ DirectCU II OC, Gigabyte’s Windforce OC and MSI’s Gaming-branded cards. In the face of such entrenched competition, the GTX 780 Ti XLR8 OC will need to emphasize its relative value.

Read The Review Here

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard Review

By Ian Cutress @ AnandTech

One of AMD’s main selling points it likes to promote is towards the gamer, especially those on a tighter budget. This subsequently suggests to the motherboard manufacturers to build models oriented for gaming. MSI’s Gaming Range has become a solid part of MSI’s plethora of motherboards, and now this extends to the FM2+ platform. Today we review the MSI A88X-G45 Gaming.

Read The Review Here

Hardware Motherboards | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

Just Announced Hardware for 11 August 2014

Hardware | Donster | August 11, 2014 |

Historical Article: Rise and Fall of an Imperial Dream

The Japanese Battleship Fleet in WWII

By John Dudek @ The Wargamer

The Japanese Navy began WWII in the Pacific with 12 battleships in its inventory or still in the final stages of completion. All but two of these capital ships had joined the fleet before, during, or immediately following WWI. Japan’s final two battleships IJN’s Yamato and Musashi were laid down in the late 1930′s. The twin sister ships were the largest, heaviest armed capital ships ever designed and built by any power until the emergence of the modern, post-war era US aircraft carriers in the 1950′s. Five of these enormous Japanese battleships were called for, of which two would be built to original specifications with the third ship being converted into a giant armored aircraft carrier. All of Japan’s older battleships were modernized or improved throughout the interwar years and later, during the war, to increase both their speed and to improve their survivability in battle. At the end of World War II, only one of the 12 Japanese battleships, the IJN. Nagato, survived the years of fierce fighting. Its fate was to be destroyed as a target in post-war atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.

Read on…

Military History | Donster | August 7, 2014 |

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm 2.04 Patch

For the last two months the On Target Simulations team has been hard at work to polish the PC Game of the Year 2013 (awarded by The Wargamer) – Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm. The developers have been focused on the community feedback, and the 2.04 patch introduces a lot of improvements that the players have been requesting since the original release of the game.

New features, tons of fixes, UI improvements and enhanced game functions come together to make the game play even better. As of now you will get more feedback on events, more flexibility with custom maps and markers, and even get open access to the game’s awesome scenarios so you can adapt them to your own taste!

The list of improvements is so long that On Target Simulations wrote a comprehensive “What’s new” document that you can read here. They do not forget the newcomers either, so the new armchair generals can get access to the revised version of the “Quick Start & Tutorial Guide” by clicking here.

Here you can see some of the major changes brought by 2.04:

Movement Orders End State Setting: Once you finish issuing a movement order you can select the end state order of the move among four choices: Hold, Screen, On Call and Resupply
Dismount Dialog: If the unit is carrying infantry or scouts you will have the option to have them dismount and move to the final objective on foot with the transports supporting the move. The unit will adopt the order state given in the new Orders on Arrival dialog
Waypoints/Waypoint Editor: there is an option to inspect group waypoints and also set delays to coordinate arrivals better.

Click here to download the 2.04 patch.

Get more information on Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm from its official product page.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | August 7, 2014 |