“Computers have a lot of memory but no imagination in itself as the fantasy part is taken over by PC Games”.

Talk to any dedicated gamer and you will realize what it means. True, gamers have a world of their own. You may call them addicts, you may call them freaks or you may call it madness. However, one cannot deny the fact that most of these computer games have dominated the world of entertainment for kids and adults in the past 15 years.

Here, let us review some of the most expected PC games scheduled for release in 2012-

Half life 2 Episode 3

Half life 2 Episode 3 tops the list of the most anticipated computer games of 2012. The Half-Life series of video games are science fictions that have an alternate history. This one is the third and final instalment in the series of episodes with Half-Life 2 being the former version.

Developed by Valve Corporation, the series of games released so far were massive hits and the speculations revolving around the upcoming series is equally hot. It is extremely hard to silence or even turn a blind eye towards these rumours on the upcoming game, thanks to the success of the past episodes.

And of course, as gamers we have the right to expect and dream for more. So keep your fingers crossed as you may be playing the game of your life.

Diablo 3

Diablo 3 is yet another much awaited game that features dark fantasy and horror themed action role-play. Developed by Blizzard and his team, Diablo 3 makes its third edition debut by early 2012. The game was first announced in June 28, 2008 and very few know that it was a fantastic mix of thrill, horror, miseries, excitement and full of entertainment. It is a perfect blend of action and adventure with music and sound effects complimenting the game’s thrill.

The Diablo 3 is expected to have a feel that is similar or better to that of the earlier games in the series with innovative slots for armour and weaponry. As a game lover, you may expect a treat for your new year.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Another action-packed game is on the way-

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The theme of the event is a military science fiction nature and real-time strategy. The game spans approximately twenty missions and is more likely to be released by April 2012.

With different characters casting different powers, the game calls for a lot of intelligence and swift actions, making it more thrilling. With a strong story line up that is revolving around the game, every scene or action here has a meaningful touch to it.

For those who have played the earlier series of the game, this version promises to be a convincing update with even better improvisations.

Battle field 3

Battle Field 3 game is purely a depiction of the 21st century action cinema. It is a catastrophic event of destruction and gunfire in the remotely located cityscapes around the world. The Modern Warfare 3 is the most recent among the long range of first-person shooters. This game is also more likely to make a lot of money than any other blockbuster movie-based games. The Cold War – Call of Duty, an earlier version of the game last year, became the biggest selling American game ever.

The series of games have been based on bomb blasts and bullets and the upcoming game is also expected to be a huge paean in the art of computer generated destructions.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Launched as early as 2000, the very first version of Deus Ex is still considered to be one of the greatest games of all times by many gaming extremists and experts. The changes brought about in this game’s revolution saw huge changes starting from a collection of first-person shooters to an array of choices and customizations to create one’s own game-play styles and weapons.

The toughness of the game and its difficulty level can at times test your will power. Human Revolution is a worthy update to the original game and is definitely one that will stay long in your mind.

BioShock: Infinite

An expected first person shooting game, BioShock Infinite is the third game in the BioShock series. It is developed by Irrational Games and is slated for a 2012 release. It will be compatible with the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Interestingly, this game shows no imitation of its earlier version as it is equipped with different settings of the earlier age.

As the waiting time gets lesser and lesser, speculations and expectations on the game became more and more. Die-hard-fans of the game would have a short wait for a long-time gaming pleasure. With early reviews of the game promising a lot, the game is almost certain to be a huge hit.

Saints Row 3

Saints Row 3, developed by Volition Inc. is a sandbox styled action-packed adventurous game. The game may be released late this year or early next year. It will be compatible with Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The game will be the third title in the series after the launch of the Saints Row 2 in 2008. In the previous series of the games, the player controls the head of the Third Street Saints. The whole theme revolves around the gang war between the rival criminal group called the Syndicate and the Saints.

BioShock Infinite is arguably one of the best story-based video games in the last 10 years. As always and as in the case of most of the games, Saints Row 3 would be easier to play on knowing the theme, the story behind the theme and the best way to play them.

As all of the above games are a big hit in the past, there is hardly any doubt about their success in the future. Either way, it’s going to be a breathtaking year for the gamers around. As former player and American Football coach, Jim Coule quotes, “Love is all fun and games until someone loses an eye or gets pregnant“.

Top Notch PC games that you can expect in 2012 is a post from Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. - Updated daily with the latest news, tips, tweaks, social networking, wordpress tips & tweaks, windows optimization help and more.. Visit Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. for the latest news, tips, tweaks, social networking, wordpress tips & tweaks, windows optimization help and more.

In an announcement that will come as no surprise to anyone, Microsoft Games Studios’ General manager Dave Luehmann has said that the company should be putting more resources into Games for Windows Live.  NeoWin has reported that he think’s it’s Microsoft’s responsibility to “lead the way” with PC gaming.

This fits entirely consistently into the company’s current plans for the Xbox and Windows Phone 7 platforms.  They will be making a big push towards mobile gaming with the integration of the Xbox Live platform into their new smartphone OS.  It’s only a matter of time before that gaming integration, something that was promised with the launch of Windows 7 but has yet failed to materialise, comes to the PC as well.

The “Games for Windows” moniker has not been entirely successful.  It was introduced with Windows Vista as a way to help reassure consumers not only that a game would run happily under Windows but that it would also integrate seamlessly into the new Games panel in the OS.  This can make it easy to control settings, change parental control options and update the game.

Sadly the main reason for this failure was probably Windows Vista itself which was far from a gaming platform and shunned by almost all hard-core gamers.

In the interview, Leuhmann said “There’s been a fair bit of criticism aimed at Microsoft that we were spending a lot of our focus on console, and we need to be putting resources behind PC as well. Other companies should look to Microsoft for leadership, but I’m not sure they do. It is our job to lead the way on PC. And in some ways we are doing that and in other ways we are not. So we need to step up.”

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward and how and if the Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live services integrate in the future.

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Now I’m sure most of you know all about over clocking processor chips, heck I’m sure many of you are probably running machines with over clocked chips. You can buy some chips over clocked above their rated speed, but this usually involves a bit of hacking around and if you don’t do it right, you could cause some trouble for your machine.

But Intel now are testing the water and offering to unlock additional caches and threads on the new Pentium G6951 processor. It’s not exactly the same as over clocking, but it should give you a modest performance boost, albeit for $50.

Hardware.info got their hands on an early sample of the chip and discovered it’s actually a full 1MB of L3 cache that’s enabled plus HyperThreading support, and they say it’s a modest, but noticeable upgrade to the chip.

Now the likes of Intel and other chip manufacturers do regularly sell chips with lower specs than what they’re capable off, and thats why people can over clock them above their “rated” performance. Regularly the chip is capable of more than what it’s rated, but due to stringent quality control, they aren’t run at their full performance.

So Intels new processor performance upgrade card will give you that little extra boost, and go about it the legit and right way,but they only appear to be trying it out on their new pentium processor for the moment. What do you think about paying an extra $50 to unlock the features that are already on the chip?

Let us know in the comments as usual

Source:

Engadget

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Online RPGs have been a very popular game genre ever since the early days of the internet, allowing gamers to immerse themselves in fantasy worlds taking on new identities. The format for many online RPGs is similar, with new skills, powers, weapons etc typically rewarded for time served or when quests are completed.

Most of the top Online RPGs charge fees to play or to purchase extra items, but there are some good free RPGs out there such as Algadon.  Set in the mystical land of Algadon, players are able to battle monsters, compete with other players and complete quests which if completed will endow their character with new powers and strengths.  To start the game a race must be chosen, where each race has different strengths and weaknesses.  Races available include orcs, elves and dwarfs.  Players can also choose a profession such as knight, mage, assassin or merchant.

As with most of these games, you are able to work cooperatively with other players and this tends to be advisable for new players.  There are also clans within Algadon, providing the usual clan war matches.  Once you’ve joined a band of merry men, you are able to message each other both in the game and outside via a forum.

Registering is easy – all you have to do is provide an email address, chose a password and a race.  As with most of these games, to achieve a high level of skill and ability will take time and it’s nice to see that Android and iPhone apps are available for those who want to play the game on the move.  There’s also a MySpace version of the game, although this has completely goals and challenges.  Hopefully, the developers are working on a facebook version of the game which would seem a logical step.

To enter the world of Algadon, click here.

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If you play Warcraft, you must be a member of Blizzard’s forums. These forums let players discuss not just Warcraft, but other Blizzard games as well (such as Diablo). Here you can discuss strategies, debate changes in the game, and learn about any Blizzard game news you are not yet aware of.

Since there are many players who spend a lot of time Blizzard games like Warcraft, they end up spending a lot of time on the Blizzard’s forums as well. While the overall design of these forums is great, there are still places for improvement. The forum experience of users can be remarkably improved by introducing certain changes into the forums.

Until Blizzard incorporates those changes into the default forum, you can check them out yourself by using BNet Squelcher.

BNet Squelcher is an extension for Google Chrome that does exactly what its description states: adds useful features to the Battle forums.

Firefox users can take advantage of this extension as well because there is a Firefox add-on available which can be gotten here.

The major changes made to the forums by BNet Squelcher are extendedBML, gracefully degrading exBML, auto-linking URLs, auto-embedding images, adding usernames to Quotes, setting custom avatars, disabling link interceptor, reordering page titles to show thread subject first, strip signatures, and disabling auto-complete for the CAPTCHA.

You can see that all these features highly useful but are absent from the default interface of the forums. So whether you use Chrome or Firefox, for a fuller experience of the Battle forums get BNet Squelcher right away.

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The gaming addicts who are fond of the titles that offer cinematic FPS excitement swear by the ‘Call of Duty’ series of games. The earlier versions used the Second World War as the backdrop but this was changed in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The new characters and plot infused fresh life into the Call of Duty franchise. The Modern Warfare 2 was announced by the beginning of 2009 and it got released a few days back. It has become extremely popular within a short time among the gamers.

The game can be divided in three sections. The single player mode is ideal for the impatient gamers who have a tendency of jumping into the game as fast as possible. Those who like online gaming can try the multiplayer version of the game. Apart from these, the game also has a Spec Ops mode. In fact, Modern Warfare 2 retains a lot of elements present in its predecessors but also polishes up and tweaks the gameplay. Playing in the single player mode gives one the experience of watching a Hollywood action flick. The plot of the game is quite elaborate and presents a lot of difficulty levels for the players.

The game starts 5 years after where the first version left off. It offers a montage of chronicles to update the player about the developments that have taken place in these years. The players also need to represent various characters in the game for different missions. The player will be transported to many places of the world where war has broken out as a result of large-scale terrorist attacks. The plot has enough turns and twists to keep the players hooked till the end. The players may face difficulty in completing some missions as the enemy AI is strong and the action sequences are quite hectic. The multiplayer version has improved level designs and the weather effects and game terrains look spectacular.

Infinity Ward deserves credit for making the latest release of Modern Warfare realistic and hard hitting. The top notch visuals of the game are matched by the sound score. Both the background music and conversations are interesting. The Dolby Digital sound enhancement implemented in the game sounds best in a home theater setup. Activision has made the game available for Windows, Xbox and PS3. However, the Xbox Live party Chat cannot be used in a number of sections in the game.

In the game’s single player mode, the gamers need to don the hats of 5 separate characters. However, in the majority of the game the player needs to act as Gary Sanderson. He is a group member of Task Force 141, an international commando unit. The game also has a number of characters who are not involved in the missions. Modern Warfare 2 lives up to the expectation of the fans of the Call of Duty series. The plot of the game, while not ground breaking, offers enough excitement and interesting events to the FPS lovers. The continuity in the story line is credible and the characterization is captivating as well.

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BioWare recently released its massive RPG saga titled ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ on several gaming platforms. However, this fantasy role playing game is so rich in story-line and content that casual gamers may not be able to cope with it easily. The game offers the players 100 hours about to finish it. But this is just the basic game. More enthusiastic gamers have the option to download optional quests and patches from the web for extended gaming sessions.

The dark epic of BioWare has a lot of combat sequences replete with visual effects and close knit story line that keep the players hooked till the end. ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ is said to be inspired from another BioWare Masterpiece of the late 90′s, ‘Baldur’s Gate’. The game sticks to the classic RPG traditions like the choice of selecting the gender and race of the protagonist. The players are also allowed to alter the appearance of the protagonists.

The game will unfold according to the choice of the protagonist made by the player. If the player chooses a male warrior, he will have to go through the devastation of his castle and a Grey Warden will be his savior. But if the player selects a female Elf as the protagonist, she will be kidnapped at the venue of her wedding in the game. But all the stories are inter-weaved at the end. What follows is the reincarnation of a powerful and gigantic demon.

There is a range of exciting and interesting combat modes in the game like archery, swordplay, special attacks and even black magic. This game was in making for the last few years and that is why its visual effects and character animations do not exactly look cutting edge. Another quirky aspect is that the protagonist remains silent though he hears other characters speaking around him. But the game has many strong points that easily override these minor limitations.

For more information on Dragon Age click here.

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I recently quit my day job and I’m been working from home full-time for the last month.  My wife also quit her job at the same time and she’s joined the ‘family firm’.  Using a laptop on her lap was only good for short sessions, so we purchased a desk, monitor and keyboard monitor for her to plug her laptop into.  When deciding on what monitor size to buy we decided to buy her a 22″ monitor and without much thought to be honest I purchased a Samsung T220 for just over £100 because it was the cheapest one I could find with a DVI input.

When the Samsung T220 arrived I was amazed by how sleek and sexy it was – it has a very cook red bezel around the edge, and is very slim.  But, what really amazed me was the image quality.  Compared to my old 19″ Samsung 913N monitors which I purchased in 2005, the images were so sharp and clear.  In fact overnight my wife’s Samsung monitor made the image quality on my monitors ‘unbearable’ with whites looking more grey than white.  So, I of course had to replace my monitors as well…..

This time I did more shopping around, but in the end I decided to buy a pair of Samsung T220 monitors for myself.  Once unpacked, not only did I have a have a much better viewing experience, but I was startled by how much faster windows were appearing on my machine.  The Samsung T220 monitors have a 2ms response time compared to a 8ms response time of my old monitors.  I didn’t think I would be able to spot a 6ms response time difference, but I can and as a result my PC feels faster.  Normally, monitor buying guides say that you only need fast monitor response times if you are a gamer, but from my experience even non-gaming PCs can benefit from faster response rates so it’s worth adding this to your list of criteria when shopping for a new monitor.

If you’re looking for a good, budget monitor then you can’t do much better than the Samsung T220.

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