The Radeon HD 4890 redefines the HD Gaming with its nearly 1 billion transistors and 800 stream processors. The features of this video card are as follows:

1. High performance anisotropic filtering and 24x custom filter and anti-aliasing

2. PCI Express 2.0 support and 1 GB / GDDR5 memory

3. ATI CrossfireX technology supporting up to four GPUs

4. Delivering high performance when needed and conserving power when demand on the GPI is low

Clearly, this video can bring your PC gaming to the next level. It might be expensive, but if you do have the extra cash, this is worth the price.

Image from ATI Graphics.

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The Power of Radeon HD 4890

Aside from a growing list of must-have games, the other thing I’d like to have this coming holiday season is a beefy new PC that can run bleeding-edge FPSes Crysis and Crysis Warhead at maximum resolution and detail without any hitches. Fat chance of that happening, though.

The next best thing is to watch how GameTrailers liked Crysis Warhead. If you can’t run either of those Crysis games, then it’s sheer torture to watch the pretty, pretty video. Still, there’s a sick sense of pleasure to be derived out of just witnessing the whole clip unfold, even if your PC is too old and you’re too cheap to upgrade it.

Watch the video after the jump.

Strangely, the game is said to run at a smoother clip this time around. Does that mean your two year-old PC can play it? The review used the term “run-of-the-mill” to describe PCs that can run Crysis Warhead. That means “run-of-the-mill” in relation to the current PCs. Yes, I feel your pain.

Image for Crysis Warhead is courtesy of EA. No EA reps were harmed in taking the screenshot.

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Video review: Crysis Warhead is still the best way to punish your PC

Crysis Warhead is not a direct sequel to the original Crysis, the visceral 2007 FPS that made PCs worldwide tremble. Crysis Warhead is more of a parallel story about Michael “Psycho” Sykes, one of the characters in the original.

While this next Crysis game won’t be the second chapter in the supposed Crysis trilogy, we can expect even better eye candy for the tune of $30. How is that possible? According to Crytek, the game’s developer, Crysis Warhead is coming with optimizations to the CryEngine 2. Interestingly, the upcoming shooter’s system requirements are said to be pretty much the same as the original, except maybe more hard disk space.

If you missed out on the original Crysis, expect to shell out more than $30 for the next one. Crysis Warhead is coming out in September.

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Crysis Warhead is even prettier than Crysis

The main differences between the two? For starters, the CryEngine 2 ad uses computer graphics. Another thing: CryEngine 2 rendered pots instead of balls in real time. If you don’t remember the Bravia ad or you just haven’t seen it before, watch the clip below:

Now watch the CryEngine 2 video again and wipe that drool off your face (I know I did). Looks like this video blows Valve’s aging Source engine out of the water. I wonder how Unreal Engine 3 stacks up against Crytek’s.

Source: Codamon

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CryEngine 2 “imitates” Sony Bravia ad

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is an FPS/RPG hybrid that took six years in the making. It’s not quite as good Half-Life 2, which also took around the same time to develop, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is obviously not as bad as Turning Point: Fall of Liberty.

Actually, I find Shadow of Chernobyl quite entertaining, so I’m pleased to hear that its second installment is coming soon. According to GSC Game World, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will ship on August 19, 2008.

Like its predecessor, Clear Sky is coming out for the PC only. “We heard that before from Crysis,” you may reason. I understand that Crysis is abuzz with rumors that it’s coming to consoles, but let me ask you this: were there any such rumors that surrounded Shadow of Chernobyl when it came out?

Nope. If GSC says Clear Sky is only for the PC, then I guess they mean it.

Image of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is courtesy of Koch Media and GSC Game World.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. prequel shipping in Q3 2008

Don’t believe me? You of little faith. Watch this:

Post from: EveryJoe

Play Crysis in the PS3 even if it’s not yet ported

I don’t know what Yahtzee has been up to, but he certainly is a bit late in getting a Crysis review out, considering that the game has been out since November last year. Then again, the guy is based in Australia, so I can’t speak for the timeliness of new titles’ arrivals.

After all, Australia is relatively close to the Philippines (i.e. other side of the world), and our general area isn’t exactly a stone’s throw away from North America, the place where most of the action is concentrated—at least when FPSes are concerned.

So what did our favorite curmudgeon say about Crysis? Well, he didn’t hate it as much as the others, so I take it as a good thing. Yahtzee was so enamored with the visuals that he pretty much ignored level design, which he originally viewed as unintuitive and confusing.

Bottom line: Yahtzee recommends Crysis even if it’s “not perfect.” Only Columbo is perfect.

See the video after the jump.

“Better late than never” may sound trite, but at least Yahtzee was able to run the thing, unlike us.

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Yahtzee chimes in on Crysis belatedly

I sincerely hope the monitor would have HDMI. Good luck in running Crysis at 2880 x 900 though.

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Alienware shows off new gaming monitor at CES

You’ve probably received word that EA dismissed rumors of Crysis being ported over to the Xbox 360. It’s not really breaking news since EA has denied this before. Add to the fact that Crytek actually boasted of next-generation consoles (i.e. Xbox 360 and the PS3) not being powerful enough to run its shooter and you get a closed chapter.

Is it really closed? Hogwash, I say.

This is not wishful thinking, mind you. Frankly, I don’t care if Crysis does land on consoles because I’ve always believed that shooters should only be played on the PC.

Then why am I making a big fuss over this? Here’s why: for starters, the company in question is EA, one of the world’s largest third-party publishers. Just recall what happened to this PC game titled Far Cry, and you’re virtually guaranteed that Crysis is indeed hitting the consoles.

Here’s another load of crap: that strong PC sales would convince Crytek to port Crysis for the consoles. If you have the least bit of familiarity of the games industry, you should know that the PC market is way smaller than the console market.

Making PC sales the determining factor if a company would port a game into consoles is absurd. Why? Anyone in this business knows that if you want “strong” sales, you don’t stay exclusively on the PC because it’s the smallest slice in the games industry pie.

Instead of waiting for a game to yield strong sales in the PC, a company normally goes multiplatform so that said game is made available more people—thus bringing in better sales.

Looking back at what Crytek said, there are two possibilities: either its powers-that-be are lying or are daft.

Then again, Crytek could be telling the truth: Crysis may not really be coming to the Xbox 360. The shooter might instead be ported to the PS3 only. That job opening in Crytek’s Web site is beginning to make sense.

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Crap-Detector: Strong PC sales would convince Crytek to port Crysis to consoles

Whether Crysis is really selling well or not, is up for discussion. What’s undeniable is the recent buzz that Crytek’s resource hog game is mentioned in—a console port. Sure, Crytek may huff all they want that the “current-gen” consoles can’t handle Crysis, but you can’t deny that porting them over to the Xbox 360 and the PS3 would bring in better sales.

What you’re seeing is a screenshot of an Austrian retail Web site revealing that an Xbox 360 version is coming on November 20, 2008.

Strangely, there’s no listing for a PS3 version in said Web site. Then again, if there’s anyone we should listen to, it should be Crytek. To date, the company hasn’t commented on this news, but if you look closely at their Web site’s job section, you’ll observe that they’re looking for a PS3 programmer.

The Austrian retailer could be correct. However, it’s hard to discount what’s implied by Crytek’s site.

Here’s my theory: Crysis already has a 360 programmer in their ranks, and they could be working on the port as I type this—thus the November ’08 release date. There’s a chance the PS3 version would come later since they still don’t have a PS3 programmer, unless it’s an old advertisement.

Whatever the case, I’m sure that Crytek is up to something. Let the speculations commence.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rumor: Crysis is going to the 360?