Manhunt 2 (Banned)

 The British Board of Film Classification has refused to rate the upcoming horror sequel Manhunt 2, in development by Rockstar Toronto for Wii, Rockstar London for PlayStation 2, and Rockstar Leeds for PSP. Without a BBFC rating, the game may not be sold within the United Kingdom. Today's ruling applies to the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions; the PSP version has not yet been submitted for classification.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:  "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.

"Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of the game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. That work was classified '18' in 2003, before the BBFC's recent games research had been undertaken, but was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category."

Command and Conquer 3 - DEMO

Download
http://www.fileplanet.com/174572/170000/fileinfo/Command-&-Conquer-3:-Tiberium-Wars-Demo-FilePlanet-Exclusive

Download 2

http://rapidshare.com/files/18504988/CnC3Demo.001
http://rapidshare.com/files/18504951/CnC3Demo.002
http://rapidshare.com/files/18504994/CnC3Demo.003
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505006/CnC3Demo.004
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505012/CnC3Demo.005
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505213/CnC3Demo.006
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505245/CnC3Demo.007
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505225/CnC3Demo.008
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505224/CnC3Demo.009
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505232/CnC3Demo.010
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505189/CnC3Demo.011
http://rapidshare.com/files/18505234/CnC3Demo.012
http://rapidshare.com/files/18504818/CnC3Demo.013

Download 3

http://rapidshare.com/files/18680059/CnC3Demo.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680065/CnC3Demo.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680025/CnC3Demo.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680060/CnC3Demo.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680029/CnC3Demo.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680011/CnC3Demo.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680050/CnC3Demo.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680015/CnC3Demo.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18681054/CnC3Demo.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680018/CnC3Demo.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18681175/CnC3Demo.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18680038/CnC3Demo.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/18679756/CnC3Demo.part13.rar

ATI Chips Comparison Table

With more and more graphics chips being released every day it became very complicated for the user who does not follow the video card market to know the differences among all ATI graphic chips in the market today. To facilitate knowing and understanding the difference among major ATI chips, we have compiled the following table:

Chip	Core Clock	Memory Clock	Memory Interface	Memory Transfer Rate	Pixels per clock	DirectX
Radeon 9200	250 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	8.1
Radeon 9200 Pro	275 MHz	550 MHz	128-bit	8.8 GB/s	4	8.1
Radeon 9200 SE	200 MHz	333 MHz	64-bit	2.6 GB/s	4	8.1
Radeon 9250	240 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	8.1
Radeon 9250 SE	240 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit	3.2 GB/s	4	8.1
Radeon 9500	275 MHz	540 MHz	128-bit	8.6 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9550	250 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9550 SE	250 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit	3.2 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9500 Pro	275 MHz	540 MHz	128-bit	8.6 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon 9600	325 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9600 Pro	400 MHz	600 MHz	128-bit	9.6 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9600 SE	325 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit	3.2 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9600 XT	500 MHz	600 MHz	128-bit	9.6 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9700	275 MHz	540 MHz	256-bit	17.2 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon 9700 Pro	325 MHz	620 MHz	256-bit	19.8 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon 9800	325 MHz	580 MHz	256-bit	18.56 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon 9800 Pro	380 MHz	680 MHz	256-bit	21.7 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon 9800 SE	325 MHz	500 MHz	128-bit or 256-bit	8 GB/s or 16 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon 9800 XT	412 MHz	730 MHz	256-bit	23.3 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon X300 SE	325 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit	3.2 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon X300	325 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon X550	400 MHz	500 MHz	128-bit or 64-bit	8 GB/s or 4 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon X600 Pro	400 MHz	600 MHz	128-bit	9.6 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon X600 XT	500 MHz	730 MHz	128-bit	11.68 GB/s	4	9.0
Radeon X700	400 MHz	600 MHz	128-bit	9.6 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon X700 Pro	420 MHz	864 MHz	128-bit	13.8 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon X700 XT	475 MHz	1.05 GHz	128-bit	16.8 GB/s	8	9.0
Radeon X800 SE	*	*	*	*	8	9.0
Radeon X800	400 MHz	700 MHz	256-bit	22.4 GB/s	12	9.0
Radeon X800 XL	400 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	16	9.0
Radeon X800 GT	475 MHz	**	128-bit or 256-bit	**	8	9.0
Radeon X800 GTO	400 MHz	1 GHz ***	256-bit	32 GB/s	12	9.0
Radeon X800 Pro	475 MHz	950 MHz	256-bit	30.4 GB/s	12	9.0
Radeon X800 XT	500 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	16	9.0
Radeon X800 XT PE	520 MHz	1.12 GHz	256-bit	35.8 GB/s	16	9.0
Radeon X850 Pro	520 MHz	1.08 GHz	256-bit	34.56 GB/s	12	9.0
Radeon X850 XT	520 MHz	1.08 GHz	256-bit	34.56 GB/s	16	9.0
Radeon X850 PE	540 MHz	1.18 GHz	256-bit	37.76 GB/s	16	9.0
Radeon X1300 HM	450 MHz	1 GHz	128-bit or 64-bit or 32-bit	16 GB/s or 8 GB/s or 4 GB/s	4	9.0c
Radeon X1300	450 MHz	500 MHz	128-bit or 64-bit or 32-bit	8 GB/s or 4 GB/s or 2 GB/s	4	9.0c
Radeon X1300 Pro	600 MHz	800 MHz	128-bit or 64-bit or 32-bit	12.8 GB/s or 6.4 GB/s or 3.2 GB/s	4	9.0c
Radeon X1300 XT	500 MHz	800 MHz	128-bit	12.8 GB/s	12	9.0c
Radeon X1600 Pro	500 MHz or 575 MHz	780 MHz	128-bit	12.48 GB/s	12	9.0c
Radeon X1600 XT	590 MHz	1.38 GHz	128-bit	22.08 GB/s	12	9.0c
Radeon X1650 Pro	600 MHz	1.40 GHz	128-bit	22.40 GB/s	12	9.0c
Radeon X1650 XT	575 MHz	1.35 GHz	128-bit	21.60 GB/s	24	9.0c
Radeon X1800 GTO	500 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	12	9.0c
Radeon X1800 XL	500 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	16	9.0c
Radeon X1800 XT	625 MHz	1.5 GHz	256-bit	48 GB/s	16	9.0c
Radeon X1900 GT	575 MHz	1.2 GHz	256-bit	38.4 GB/s	36	9.0c
Radeon X1900 XT	550 MHz	1.45 GHz	256-bit	46.4 GB/s	48	9.0c
Radeon X1900 XTX	650 MHz	1.55 GHz	256-bit	49.6 GB/s	48	9.0c
Radeon X1950 Pro	575 MHz	1,38 GHz	256-bit	44.16 GB/s	36	9.0c
Radeon X1950 XTX	650 MHz	2 GHz	256-bit	64 GB/s	48	9.0c

nVidia Chips Comparison Table

If you don't follow almost daily the video card market it is really complicated to understand the differences between the several different nVidia graphics chips available on the market today. To facilitate knowing and understanding the difference among these chips, we have compiled the following table:

Chip	Core Clock	Memory Clock	Memory Interface	Memory Transfer Rate	Pixels per clock	DirectX
GeForce 4 MX 440 AGP 8x	275 MHz	512 MHz	128-bit	8.1 GB/s	2	7
GeForce MX 4000	250 MHz	*	32-bit or 64-bit or 128-bit	*	2	7
GeForce FX 5200	250 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit or 128-bit	3.2 GB/s or 6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra	350 MHz	650 MHz	128-bit	10.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5600	325 MHz	550 MHz	128-bit	8.8 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5500	270 MHz	400 MHz	64-bit or 128-bit	3.2 GB/s or 6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5600 Ultra	500 MHz	800 MHz	128-bit	12.8 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5700 LE	250 MHz	400 MHz	128-bit	6.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5700	425 MHz	600 MHz	128-bit	9,6 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	475 MHz	900 MHz	128-bit	14.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce FX 5800	400 MHz	900 MHz	128-bit	14.4 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce FX 5800 Ultra	500 MHz	1 GHz	128-bit	16 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce FX 5900 XT	390 MHz	680 MHz	256-bit	21.7 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce FX 5900	400 MHz	850 MHz	256-bit	27.2 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra	450 MHz	850 MHz	256-bit	27.2 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce FX 5950 Ultra	475 MHz	950 MHz	256-bit	30.4 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce PCX 5300	325 MHz	650 MHz	128-bit	10.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce PCX 5750	475 MHz	900 MHz	128-bit	14.4 GB/s	4	9.0
GeForce PCX 5900	350 MHz	500 MHz	256-bit	17.6 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce PCX 5950	475 MHz	900 MHz	256-bit	30.4 GB/s	8	9.0
GeForce 6200	300 MHz	550 MHz	128-bit	8.8 GB/s	4	9.0c
GeForce 6200 LE	350 MHz	550 MHz	64-bit	4.4 GB/s	2	9.0c
GeForce 6200 (TC)	350 MHz	666 MHz *	32-bit or 64-bit	2.66 GB/s or 5.32 GB/s *	4	9.0c
GeForce 6500 (TC)	400 MHz	666 MHz *	32-bit or 64-bit	2.66 GB/s or 5.32 GB/s *	4	9.0c
GeForce 6600	300 MHz	550 MHz *	64-bit or 128-bit	4.4 GB/s or 8.8 GB/s *	8	9.0c
GeForce 6600 DDR2	350 MHz	800 MHz *	128-bit	12.8 GB/s *	8	9.0c
GeForce 6600 LE	300 MHz	*	64-bit or 128-bit	*	4	9.0c
GeForce 6600 GT	500 MHz	1 GHz	128-bit	16 GB/s	8	9.0c
GeForce 6600 GT AGP	500 MHz	900 MHz	128-bit	14.4 GB/s	8	9.0c
GeForce 6800 LE	300 MHz	700 MHz	256-bit	22.4 GB/s	8	9.0c
GeForce 6800	325 MHz	600 MHz	256-bit	19.2 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 6800 AGP	325 MHz	700 MHz	256-bit	22.4 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 6800 GS	425 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 6800 GS AGP	350 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 6800 GT	350 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	16	9.0c
GeForce 6800 Ultra	400 MHz	1.1 GHz	256-bit	35.2 GB/s	16	9.0c
GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme	450 MHz	1.1 GHz	256-bit	35.2 GB/s	16	9.0c
GeForce 7100 GS (TC)	350 MHz	666 MHz *	64-bit	5.3 GB/s *	4	9.0c
GeForce 7300 SE (TC)	225 MHz	*	64-bit	*	4	9.0c
GeForce 7300 LE (TC)	450 MHz	648 MHz *	64-bit	5.2 GB/s *	4	9.0c
GeForce 7300 GS (TC)	550 MHz	810 MHz *	64-bit	6.5 GB/s *	4	9.0c
GeForce 7300 GT (TC)	350 MHz	667 MHz	128-bit	10.6 GB/s	8	9.0c
GeForce 7600 GS	400 MHz	800 MHz	128-bit	12.8 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 7600 GT	560 MHz	1.4 GHz	128-bit	22.4 GB/s	12	9.0c
GeForce 7800 GS	375 MHz	1.2 GHz	256-bit	38.4 GB/s	16	9.0c
GeForce 7800 GT	400 MHz	1 GHz	256-bit	32 GB/s	20	9.0c
GeForce 7800 GTX	430 MHz	1.2 GHz	256-bit	38.4 GB/s	24	9.0c
GeForce 7800 GTX 512	550 MHz	1.7 GHz	256-bit	54.4 GB/s	24	9.0c
GeForce 7900 GS	450 MHz	1.32 GHz	256-bit	42.2 GB/s	20	9.0c
GeForce 7900 GT	450 MHz	1.32 GHz	256-bit	42.2 GB/s	24	9.0c
GeForce 7900 GTX	650 MHz	1.6 GHz	256-bit	51.2 GB/s	24	9.0c
GeForce 7950 GT	550 MHz	1.4 GHz	256-bit	44.8 GB/s	24	9.0c
GeForce 7950 GX2 **	500 MHz	1.2 GHz x2	256-bit x2	38.4 GB/s x2	24 x2	9.0c
GeForce 8800 GTS ***	500 MHz / 1.2 GHz	1.6 GHz	320-bit	64 GB/s	96	10
GeForce 8800 GTX ***	575 MHz / 1.35 GHz	1.8 GHz	384-bit	86.4 GB/s	128	10

As for the DirectX version, check the table below:

DirectX	Shader Model
7.0	No
8.1	1.4
9.0	2.0
9.0c	3.0
10	4.0

The Best Selling PC Games

Another week, another NPD chart detailing the best selling PC games in the USA for the week ending November 25:

1. The Sims 2 Pets - Electronic Arts
2. Battlefield 2142 - Electronic Arts
3. Bejeweled 2 Deluxe - Popcap Games
4. Desperate Housewives - Buena Vista Games
5. Neverwinter Nights 2 - Atari
6. Flight Simulator X Deluxe - Microsoft
7. World of Warcraft - Blizzard
8. Company of Heroes - THQ
9. The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff - Electronic Arts
10. Medieval 2: Total War - Sega

Crytek CEO on Crysis Delay

Last month Electronic Arts announced a delay in the release of the Crytek developed first person shooter Crysis from the first quarter of 2007 to sometime later in the year. Now fansite InCrysis.com has a message from Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, responding to rumors that Crysis will be delayed. Here is a bit:

We are focussing our efforts right now on getting the best possible experience for the widest variety of PC configs, starting from entry-level PC's up to the hard-core game rigs. Multiplayer is also an area of big focus for us right now, and we listened very hard to our fans. This includes the post-launch modding and community plans. Crysis' core single player is improving all the time - the progress I am seeing from the team right now here in Frankfurt is just staggering.

We are tracking well and trying our very best to release the game as soon as we can but Crytek and EA can't provide a hard date just yet.

Halo 3 Sixty-Second Trailer, Beta sign-up

As announced last week, today Microsoft opened initial registration for the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta test on Xbox 360. Gamers can sign up over at the official Halo 3 site. Only those residing in the United States or Canada, of a minimum age of 17 years, will be considered. Participants must own an Xbox 360 and have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. Microsoft has indicated that registration details for European gamers are to follow.

Also, the new CG trailer for Halo 3 (local mirror) is also now freely downloadable via Xbox Live Marketplace. The ad was created by McCann Worldgroup San Francisco and it includes a mixture of live action and computer generated animation.

Star Trek Online Update

Startrek-online.net has a lengthy development update on the upcoming MMORPG from Perpetual Entertainment's Daron Stinnett. Here is an excerpt:

In a few weeks, we'll have the space combat refined to the point where we'll have a basic set of skills, effects, damage model, AI, and cameras to the point where we can truly start to evaluate and refine our space combat model. Given that we can already log multiple players into a server and see each other in the game, having combat up and running means the we'll be able to begin weekly team play sessions so everyone can get in on playing and refining the combat experience until it is something truly special. And while ground combat is also working at an early stage, we're more focused on space combat at the moment because that's where we see the most risk and opportunity.

When we finish up our first rev of our gameplay prototype in a few weeks, we'll dive into the task of creating our first sector. The design team is already focused on the task of laying out the sector by specifying a range of both space and ground mission areas. One of the issues the design team is going to tackle next is scale vs. speed. Before we start building assets to populate our first sector, we'll have to figure out exactly how fast the ship travels at impulse relative to its size and the size of the objects that you'll see and explore in the world. The tuning of these parameters will have a dramatic effect on how the game feels. And it will be a delicate balance; make the ship too slow and the world will feel boring, make it too fast and players will whip past each other at dizzying speeds, combat will inevitably spread out, etc. And we're all looking forward to getting a first hand feel for what it will be like to fly around a fully realized sector including moving between points of interest and beaming to and from surface zones.

So the next couple of months will be big for us. With the ability to engage in space combat and limited ground combat, fly around a sector, and run quests that span space and ground zones, we should start to get our first true understanding of what it will be like to play within this world we're creating. And after nearly a year of R&D and design work, the team is really looking forward to having the ability to start playing so we can begin the real process of refining gameplay to a point where it is truly entertaining. Not to mention the fact that PvP happens to be a great way to resolve internal team disagreements...

Crysis Gameplay Movie - GC 2006

Kikizo has a 12 minutes long video (local US mirror ~ 358MB / WMV) from the upcoming first person shooter Crysis. The video includes extensive in-game footage and suggests that we can expect a lot of things from Crytek's new game engine.

59k More WoW Accounts Banned

Blizzard announced it has banned some 59,000 players in the month of June alone for cheating in World of WarCraft:

As part of our efforts to eliminate cheating from World of Warcraft, we recently banned approximately 59,000 World of Warcraft accounts in the month of June, and with that removed well over 22 million gold from the total economy across all realms. While we regret having to take such extreme action, these accounts were participating in activities that directly violated World of Warcraft's Terms of Use, including the use of third-party programs to farm gold and items. Such behavior not only negatively impacts the economy of a realm, it diminishes the achievements of those who play legitimately. We will continue to aggressively monitor all World of Warcraft realms in order to protect the service and our players from the harmful effects of cheating. 

AMD agrees to buy ATI for about $5.4 billion!

he wait is over, ATI and AMD have sealed the deal! AMD agreed to buy ATI Technologies Inc. for $5.4 billion, adding computer-graphics chips to its product lineup. ATI stockholders will receive $20.47, including $16.40 in cash and 0.2229 Advanced Micro shares, for each ATI share, the companies said in a Business Wire statement. The offer is 24 percent more than ATI's closing price last week. The combination will create a processing powerhouse by bringing AMD's technology leadership in microprocessors together with ATI's strengths in graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics. The result: A new and more formidable company, determined to drive growth, innovation and choice for its customers, particularly in the commercial and mobile computing segments and in the rapidly-growing consumer electronics market. Combining technologies, people, and complementary strengths, AMD plans to deliver in 2007 customer-centric platforms for the benefit of customers who want to collaborate in the development of differentiated solutions.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

The latest Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars online newsletter offers three new screenshots from EALA's upcoming sci-fi RTS game sequel. The newsletter also stated that a new C&C 3 podcast would be released on July 28 and that the podcast would have more info on what will be shown of C&C 3 at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany this August 2006.