ME2 "Kasumi" DLC trailer

Set for release tomorrow (April 6):

Shack News has a preview here.

Crysis console constraints

From CVG:  Crysis 2 faced 'creative console constraints'

Crysis 2 can be defined as a 'sandbox game with borders' - after developer Crytek faced down the limitations of Xbox 360 by ensuring it "avoided over-designing features."

The firm has explained why they chose a tighter, more metropolitan world for the second game as part of a huge exclusive in CVG sister mag Xbox World 360.

As previously reported, Crysis 2 is set in New York - a world away from its predecessor's lush, vast jungle terrain, which could only be seen on PC.

When asked if the decision to switch to Xbox 360 for the second game was limiting, Crytek executive producer Nathan Camarillo said:

"I wouldn't exactly call this generation of consoles 'limited'. However, the challenges have allowed us to avoid over-designing features, to keep the focus narrower and tight for a compelling experience on all platforms.  

There's more to the interview, but it's the same doublespeak:  to get Crysis on the consoles, Crytek had to dumb it down.  The "open world" aspect of the series was always something of a myth, but you can't get vistas like that on the Xbox, even at 720p.

Chrome un-hackable by Pwn2Own hackers

From BlogTechnical.com:

At the recently held Pwn2Own hacking convention, Google Chrome was the only major browser to stand up to the 3 days of brutal hacking attempts by professionals from across the nation. At Pwn2Own, hackers and other pros are paid prizes between $10,o00 to $15,000 along with their cracking system, to break into different web browsers listed below. Hacking into a select few mobiles phones was also on the agenda.

While Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari were cracked within minutes on Day 1, Chrome was able to stand firm for all 3 day on various platforms, especially on the the very insecure Windows XP. Definitely a good achievement for the new browser, however critics say that because only 5-11% of people use Chrome and with the fact that it’s still very new on the market, hackers have either not been able to find exploits yet or just haven’t seriously taken the time to try and crack Chrome.

PC release list for April

• Borderlands: Add-On Pack – April 6th
• Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West - April 8th
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City – April 13th
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse – April 15th
• The Whispered World - April 26th
• Jumpgate Evolution – April 27th
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction – April 27th
• Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans – April 27th
• Black Mirror 2 – April 30th
• Alien Breed Evolution – April
• Battlefield Online – April
• Rig N Roll – April
• Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - April
• Tactical Intervention – April

Buzzkill: the GTX 480

BitTech.net has reviewed Nvidia's GeForce GTX 480, and it looks pretty disappointing.  Their conclusion:

Having waited over six months for Nvidia to deliver a DirectX 11 graphics card we can’t help but feel shocked by the GeForce GTX 480. While offering performance superior to the HD 5870 in some situations, most notably Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Dirt 2, the GTX 480 is unable to conclusively claim the title as fastest single GPU graphics card, with Crysis a dead heat and the Radeon HD 5870 cards offering much better performance in STALKER.

Even when ahead, at the high resolutions and demanding settings this kind of top-of-the-range card should target, the GTX 480's performance advantage is rarely more than ten percent. Considering the six month wait since the release of the HD 5870 this is deeply disappointing, and we certainly hoped and expected more.

It’s hard to back the GTX 480 elsewhere though as it brings with it incredibly high power consumption, high running temperatures and a noisy stock cooling solution which really spoil the party.

The bad news continues. Nvidia has chosen to launch the GTX 480 quoting a price thirty per cent higher than that of its direct competitor. While you can find a HD 5870 1GB for around £310 in stock without too much effort, the GeForce GTX 480 1,536MB will hit e-tailers shelves on April 6th at an MSRP of £420 ($450). Even if you value the Nvidia exclusive features like PhysX, 3D Vision and CUDA support, such a high price will be tough to stomach.

Yes, the GTX 480 offers great performance in our test games, especially in Dirt 2 and Bad Company 2, but compared to the competition, it doesn't make a strong enough case for itself, especially when you consider that there are just so many caveats involved with buying this card. The higher price, the 100W of extra power consumption, scorchingly hot temperatures and a much noisier stock cooler are all extremely detrimental to its desirability. The HD 5870 remains a far better choice if you're a gamer; while we've yet to see how the GTX 480 performs with CUDA apps and Folding, at this stage Fermi looks like a flop. 

Tali unmasked

This again?

Dolby Axon VOIP

From Blue's News:

The Dolby Axon Website now offers free downloads of the Dolby Axon Desktop Client, a stand-alone voice chat client designed specifically for games. The desktop client is free, and there is also a premium upgrade called Dolby Axon Surround Pass, which allows players to create surround sound chat rooms, offering visual chat, larger chats, and permanent rooms. Details on the premium version are here, and new users are entitled to a 30-day free trial. There is an interview about the program on YouGamers discussing the advantages Dolby feels they are offering over similar programs.

Software updates

+ Microsoft has released Version 12.00 of the free Process Explorer utility which is a more robust replacement for Windows Task Manager. 

+ CPUID has released a new Version 1.54 of the CPU-Z information utility. This update provides support for new chipsets and introduces "validation rooms."

+ Nvidia has released the WHQL 197.13 drivers for Windows XP, Vista and 7. They're identical to the beta 197.13 drivers released earlier this month; the only difference is the Microsoft certification. The package also contains the 9.10.0129 PhysX drivers.

+ ATI has released the Catalyst 10.3 graphics drivers for the HD2000 series and newer GPU's. The drivers are supposed to provide performance improvements for a few games, including AvP, Crysis, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, STALKER and HAWX. The drivers also include several new Eyefinity features, support for 3D Stereoscopic gaming, and a number of fixes.

+ Google has released Version 4.1.249.1042 of its Chrome browser. 

+ SiSoftware has released a new 2010 SP1 Build 16.36 of the free system information utility, Sandra.

Nvidia GTX 480 due out today

I think. A few sites received the GPU's specs, but the information was subject to some kind of non-disclosure agreement. Some of those sites published the information, Nvidia threatened them, and the information was pulled (for example).  

Hexus.net confirms that the release date is today, March 26.