June 2005

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Posted by [] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
Continuing to Dolly (milk) our Developers' video card wish list thingamajig, we asked Irrational Games programmer Rowan Wyborn the following question on video cards:Seems every year we are promised certain things by video card makers and whether or not they fulfill those promises, well, that's debatable. Regardless, what would you like to see by this time next year in a video card? What features, in particular, that we haven't seen yet, or features that haven't really been exploited well (for example, some have bitched about how the T&L engine on the first GeForce, and how it wasn't actually all that fast). This is usually a good time to have a video card wish list, so I figured we'd try to be the first to ask :) Do you have a wish list of features (even including the type of RAM used, possibly) for video cards?And here's what he had to say (thanks to Irrational's Ken Levine for shooting this off my way) -- great bit actually:I'd have to say that any video card with complete support for the new DX8 feature set is pretty much going to kick ass. MS has really done its home work this time round... pixel and vertex shaders are going to give us some amazing looking games in the future. However, a couple of extra things I would like to see are:- Better z/stencil buffer support. Instead of using up bits in the z buffer, stencil buffers should be completely separate video memory buffers. This would allow higher bit depth stencil buffers, and would mean that the bit depths of the z and stencil buffers are no longer linked in any way.- Support for geometry generation in hardware (I doubt this will happen very soon :). Currently vertex shaders are only able to modify the vertex data of an existing mesh. Being able to write a shader (I guess you could call it a mesh shader) that takes a set of arbitrary input data and algorithmically generates an output mesh would allow some very cool effects to be done entirely on the video card hardware.Unfortunately I think that maintaining compatibility with the current crop of non-

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Posted by [Hardware News] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]

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Posted by [Ne] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
ATI Announced Radeon VE:In keeping pace with NVIDIA's GeForce2 MX, ATI has announced their value Radeon GPU called the Radeon VE. This chip will have all the standard business-class goodies like dual monitor support: TORONTO, Nov. 9 ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT) today unveiled the RADEON(TM) VE graphics card. The RADEON VE graphics card is based on the highly integrated and cost-effective RADEON VE chip. The RADEON VE chip is a mainstream derivative of the award winning RADEON Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). RADEON VE leverages many of the strengths of the high performance RADEON GPU, but has been specifically designed for the mainstream market. The RADEON VE chip features a highly integrated display architecture including two integrated DACs and CRT controllers, integrated support for DVI (Digital Flat Panel) resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 and integrated TV-Out. Based on the RADEON VE chip, the RADEON VE graphics card offers more features and value than any other graphics card in this price range. The retail RADEON VE graphics card also integrates industry leading HydraVision(TM) technology for multi-monitor support to maximize productivity and functionality. Created by Appian Graphics, HydraVision is the world's leading multi-monitor desktop management software and is being heavily utilized in the workstation and financial markets. HydraVision will further increase the value of RADEON VE graphics cards.

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Posted by [972253817,21399,] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
Does Media Violence Lead To Real Violence?

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Posted by [pcshooter] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
Luckee

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Posted by [] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
According to many scientists, violent scenes in the media, when seen through the eyes of some children, could help make them violent. Their alarming statements have convinced Congress to pass new laws including the requirement for “V-chips” in all new televisions so parents can block violent programs. But, is there conclusive evidence that viewing violence can cause violence? Toronto University Psychology professor Jonathan Freedman, claims scientific evidence does not support the notion that media violence causes aggression. In a new 481-page scientific review, Freedman trashes the claim of some of the nation’s most respected public health groups — including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics — that more than 1,000 studies prove the case against media violence. “There aren’t over a thousand studies. There are about 200 studies, give or take a few, depending on which ones you count,” he says. Differing Points of ViewOver the past 15 years, Freedman analyzed every study on media violence published in English. He concluded the scientific evidence does not prove much of anything. And now, Freedman has a new ally in this culture war. Pulitzer prize-winning science author Richard Rhodes also investigated the link between violent media and violence in society when he was working on his latest book, Why They Kill. “There is no good evidence that watching mock violence in the media either causes or even influences people to become violent,” he says. “There’s some evidence that it makes people more peaceful.” But to psychology professors Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Heusmann of the University of Michigan — who helped lay the foundation of the case against media violence — the findings in their research suggests otherwise. In 1960, Eron began studying aggression and the TV viewing habits of 875 third-graders in upstate New York. He and

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Posted by [pcshooter@xrgaming.net] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
Luckee

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Posted by [] @ 4:19 PM MDT Wednesday, June 8, 2005 [Comment on news]
VisionTek announced what they are calling "the fastest graphics card on the market" with nearly double the power of the GeForce2 GTS! GURNEE, Ill.-VisionTek, a leading provider of advanced graphics solutions for personal computers, today introduced a new graphics accelerator powered by the latest video chip from NVIDIA Corp. Available for immediate shipment, VisionTek's GeForce2 Ultra graphics accelerator nearly doubles the performance of its award-winning predecessor, the GeForce2 GTS graphics accelerator, providing the world's fastest graphics processing subsystem.According to Mark Polinsky, chief executive officer of VisionTek, the groundbreaking graphics accelerator delivers the power, memory and bandwidth required for realistic execution of advanced effects at high resolutions. "Like every new VisionTek graphics product we introduce, the GeForce2 Ultra graphics accelerator resets the level of performance for gamers and graphic design professionals alike," said Polinsky.With three times the texture processing power of any competitive consumer graphics product, the Geforce2 Ultra graphics accelerator provides VisionTek graphics card users with more detailed environments, more realistic scenes and a richer, more intense visual experience. VisionTek's Geforce2 Ultra graphics accelerator features a fill rate of one billion pixels per second, 64 megabytes of double data rate (DDR) SDRAM memory and dedicated graphics bandwidth of 7.36 gigabytes per second.In addition to the Geforce2 Ultra graphics accelerator, VisionTek manufactures a complete line of NVIDIA processor-based video boards for the OEM, contract and distribution markets. "Each graphics accelerator we manufacture is engineered to meet specific customer needs," explains Ric Lewis, executive vice president of business development for VisionTek. "Our new GeForce2 Ultra graphics accelerator is designed for desktop users seeking optimal performance and industry-leading products. The longstanding partnership we have with NVIDIA, combined with our stringe