FIFA 15 System Requirements

While next-gen console owners were treated to a next-gen version of FIFA last year, us PC gamers were left out in the cold with the same graphics engine EA Sports has been lugging around for years.

Now FIFA 15 has rolled around it's making the leap to the next-gen EA Sports Ignite engine, so to see if your PC is more of a freewheeling Messi than an Adebayor, read on to check out the FIFA 15 PC system requirements...

FIFA 15 Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows 7 64-bit

CPU: Intel Q6600 Core2 Quad 2.4 GHz OR AMD Phenom 9750 Quad-Core 2.4GHz

RAM: 4GB System Memory

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 OR AMD Radeon HD 5770

GPU RAM: 512MB

DX: DirectX 11

HHD: 15GB Free Hard Drive Space

Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

FIFA 15 Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

CPU: Intel i5-2550K 3.4GHz OR AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz

RAM: 8GB System Memory

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 OR AMD Radeon HD 6870

GPU RAM: 1024MB

Wowzer. As you can see these are some pretty mammoth requirements for a sports game. The FIFA 15 recommended requirements run a 10, 8 and 9 for CPU, GPU and RAM respectively on the GD hardware scale.

In comparison to FIFA 14 these are a massive step up. Whereas that needed just a GeForce 8400, the new Ignite Engine, EA claim, requires at least a GeForce GTX 650 1GB. Combine that with the need for a pretty juicy quad-core processor and you've got some demanding system requirements for FIFA 15.

As with any sports game though we would expect the PC version to be extremely scalable, so in all likelihood gamers will be able to get away with lower specs if they don't mind sacrificing some of the nicer effects.

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Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti review

Well, it’s been a busy month for graphics card releases and we’re only seven days into November, but then we always knew Nvidia would be waiting for AMD to release it’s top end cards before issuing their own response, and here it is: the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti.

And as you would expect, it’s now the fastest graphics card on the planet. But we’re not just talking about taking the single-GPU crown either, the GTX 780 Ti can actually go much faster than the Radeon HD 7990, let alone either the GTX Titan or Radeon R9 290X.

Nvidia have had to bring out their biggest guns for this battle. The original GTX Titan was a bit of shock and awe in order to topple AMD’s Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition from the top of the benchmark tree, the GTX 780 Ti goes even further. Not even Nvidia’s pro graphics card range has used the GPU behemoth inside this card.

Perhaps AMD ought to take this as a bit of a compliment though. Nvidia hasn’t left anything in the tank here, this card represents every bit of power they’ve managed to pull out of the Kepler architecture. Like the GTX 780 and the GTX Titan before it, the GTX 780 Ti is using the GK 110 GPU Nvidia have previously reserved for their professional Tesla graphics card range. It’s a massive, powerful GPU at 533mm2 with over seven billion transistors - the GK 104 used in the original GTX 680 by comparison is relatively svelte at under 300mm2 with half the transistor count.

The Titan used the same chip as the top Tesla K20X card, with 2,688 CUDA cores making it one of the quickest single GPU cards around at the time. That still wasn’t, however, the full-fat GK 110 chip. Both Titan and K20X sport fourteen of the Kepler architecture’s streaming microprocessor (SMX) modules - each with 192 CUDA cores - to make up that 2,688 core count. The full chip though comes out of the fabs with fifteen SMX and some 2,880 cores. Because of the difficulty getting fully functional yields out of the silicon wafers at the top spec the decision was taken to go forward with fourteen. This allowed for chips without the full fifteen functional SMX modules to still make the grade.

But now because of the serious competition from AMD’s Hawaii GPU, Nvidia have had to bring out the big guns. Because the production process is now far more mature than it was a year or so ago I expect the yields on the top chips are much better than they were originally - they’re going to have to be otherwise Nvidia might be taking a bit of a hit bringing the GTX 780 Ti out at this  price.

Send all the cores, ALL THE CORES!

Quick chips

What does all that mean for gaming performance then? It means the GTX 780 Ti is faster than AMD’s finest, that’s what. But not by much, if I’m honest. In the synthetic benchmark of Heaven 4.0 it shows Nvidia’s top card has the definitive edge when it comes to raw performance, but in-game - Bioshock Infinite aside - the difference isn’t nearly so pronounced.

Indeed, with Company of Heroes 2 even the second-tier Hawaii, the Radeon R9 290, is still faster than this giant of a GPU.

When you think about the fact Nvidia’s latest card is over £200 more expensive than the R9 290 suddenly all those CUDA cores don’t look so impressive. And when you’re only getting a few frames per second on average more than the R9 290X, the extra £100-odd over the top Radeon doesn’t look worth the outlay at all.

I was quite prepared to admit that while the GTX 780 Ti was indeed the new fastest GPU in the world it was only by such an insignificant amount as to barely be worth bothering about. A good demonstration of speedy Kepler architecture, but not a card I could recommend anyone buy.

Then I started playing around overclocking it. Boy, does this thing shift when you start playing around with the core and memory clocks. And even at the top settings (some 1,254MHz on the GPU if you’re interested) it was still only knocking around 83ºC and with the fans at 67% it only sounded as blowy as the R9 290X itself.

I’ve never seen any card get so close to hitting 50FPS in Heaven’s system-taxing benchmark at 2560x1600, especially not with the minimum frame rate topping 20FPS either. In my experience of basic GPU overclocking, whether DIY or factory-overclocked, most cards will net you an extra 10% performance boost at best. The GTX 780 Ti was boosting gaming frame rates by 16% at the very least, sometimes as high as 23%.

These are important speed bumps when you’re gaming at high resolutions, which is where you want to be when you’re spending £560 / $700 on a graphics card. If you’re plugging this into a 1080p screen only then you’re a mad person.

To really see the best of the GTX 780 Ti you need to overclock Must-have?

It’s still not got the must-have price/performance metrics of the impressive Radeon R9 290 though. That card is still an absolute bargain for the gaming speeds you can get out of it. And while the GTX 780 Ti at its top overclock does pull away, sometimes quite significantly, from the second-tier Radeon it’s still tough to argue that the extra performance is really worth the extra couple hundred you’ve got to spend on the GeForce card.

For some people it will be though. If you want the absolute best, quickest graphics card on the market right now, and one that still wont burn a hole in the side of your chassis, or deafen you at full speed, then Nvidia have got the card for you. At £560 / $700 it is a premium-priced GPU, but when you consider the GTX Titan is still selling for much, much more, it’s not actually that bad, value-wise. Fingers crossed Nvidia have sorted out the chip yields for GK 110 chips with the full fifteen SMX modules, because I’m pretty confident they could sell an awful lot of these cards. I guess we’ll see what stock levels are like over the next few days.

Benchmarks
DirectX 11 synthetic performance
Heaven 4.0 - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 40.6 (18.9)
Radeon R9 290X - 33.7 (17.4)
GeForce GTX Titan - 37.0 (18.2)
Radeon R9 290 - 31.2 (16.7)

DirectX 11 gaming performance
Bioshock Infinite - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 68 (15)
Radeon R9 290X - 57 (16)
GeForce GTX Titan - 60 (11)
Radeon R9 290 - 55 (16)

Company of Heroes 2 - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 25 (12)
Radeon R9 290X - 29 (15)
GeForce GTX Titan - 25 (12)
Radeon R9 290 - 27 (14)

GRID 2 - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 86 (69)
Radeon R9 290X - 86 (68)
GeForce GTX Titan - 77 (61)
Radeon R9 290 - 77 (62)

Total War: Rome II - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 37 (12)
Radeon R9 290X - 36 (13)
GeForce GTX Titan - 33 (12)
Radeon R9 290 - 34 (11)

Metro: Last Light - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 28 (14)
Radeon R9 290X - 26 (13)
GeForce GTX Titan - 24 (13)
Radeon R9 290 - 25 (13)

Overclocking performance
Heaven 4.0 - Avg. FPS (min): higher is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 49.2 (21.5)
Radeon R9 290X - 36.7 (18.5)

Temperature performance
GPU 100% - Degrees Centigrade: lower is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 83
Radeon R9 290X - 95
GeForce GTX Titan - 80
Radeon R9 290 - 93

Peak platform power performance
GPU 100% - Watts: lower is better
GeForce GTX 780 Ti - 340
Radeon R9 290X - 383
GeForce GTX Titan - 300
Radeon R9 290 - 347

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The Call of Duty And Battlefield Franchises Days Are Numbered Says Just Cause Creator

 

According to Avalanche Studios’ head honcho, the writing is on the wall for the Call of Duty franchise, following a less than stellar reception to the latest iteration.

 

Call of Duty: Ghosts has seen a noticeable drop off in review scores compared to the best-selling franchise’s previous outings, and Christofer Sundberg believes that the future of the FPS lies exclusively in the online gaming arena, and only the Battlefield series is equipped to make that transition…

 

Call Of Duty: A Ghost Of Its Former Self

 

The creator of the Just Cause franchise believes that the era of single-player cinematic gaming in the shooter genre is coming to a close, as the modern audience looks to the online world for their gaming fix.

“I predict the end of an era with #CoDGhosts and #BF4. I don't believe in the future for CoD and I believe that BF will live on as an MP game,” Sundberg said on Twitter.

 

"I don't think there is room for both unless they are DRASTICALLY different and publishers find new ways to monetize the players," he went on to say.

 

Sundberg believes that the two titles could live on as free-to-play experiences if they dropped the F2P name and adapted themselves to be platforms unto themselves, with paid-for updates and content that would be continually available, rather than pumping out yearly editions.

 

"If they don't call it F2P I think that can be successful. Build it as a platform, make players invest and get them hooked," he said.

 

Call of Duty's last outing, Black Ops II went on to sell over seven million copies on launch day, so despite Sundberg's protestations it doesn't appear like a series that may be going the way of the dodo any time soon.

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Assassins Creed IV Dev Team On Current-Gen Development Nightmare And Watch Dogs

Several key members of the Assassin's Creed 4 development team took to Reddit last night to answer some fans' questions about the latest instalment in the Assassin's Creed franchise.

 

Their answers contained some interesting tidbits about the game's development process and the difficulties of developing a game like Assassin's Creed 4 on current gen, as well as a hinting at possible similarities between Assassin's Creed 4 and upcoming Ubisoft title Watch Dogs …

 

Development For Current Gen Was "Nightmarish"

 

Although the game is reportedly running very well on both current and next generation consoles, game developer Ashraf Ismail revealed that the process of development was “very difficult and even nightmarish”on current gen consoles. He went on to say that “Both XboxOne and PS4 were easy to deal with and the 1st partys were both there to help us out.”, noting that the similarity between next gen and PC for developers helped to ease the whole process.

 

“The one gray area was understanding both Sony and MS requirements for the consoles. They were trying to figure them out themselves. Overall it was super smooth to develop on NG”

The relative ease of developing on next-gen is good news for gamers, of course, but the dev team were also keen talk about the franchise's future. Lead writer Darby McDevitt was optimistic for the long term future of the series, as long as the games continued to provide "unique gameplay innovation to accompany its setting". He claimed that the series' long standing present day setting may have to be modified "to be more of a "context" and less "plot driven" so that people aren't constantly frustrated by a lack of resolution."

 

When asked about the possibility of an Assassin's Creed set completely in the present day, McDevitt was fairly definite that this would not occur, as there would be too many"mechanics we would have to develop to make it plausible." However, he teased that"While not in the AC universe, I think Watch Dogs will scratch the itch for a modern day AC. Just wait..."

 

If you weren't already hyped about that particular upcoming Ubisoft title, then that teaser could be enough to pique your interest...

 

We should be able to check out the differences between current and next gen Assassin's Creed IV soon enough; the game releases as a launch title for Xbox One and PS4 later this month.

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The Best Free PC Games 2013 Edition Part Two

After yesterday's edition we're back with five more of the best free games available for PC. These represent some of the best propositions in the free-gaming arena, and are sure to while away many an hour without costing you a penny. 

So here we go with The Best Free PC Games 2013 Edition Part Two...

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Now a bygone relic of yesterday, Command & Conquer was the go-to series for gloriously over the top strategy gaming combined with hilariously cheesy FMVs, employing actors that Westwood Studios probably found loitering around the set of a lawnmower commercial (sorry James Earl Jones). Falling on hard times in recent years, including this week’s unfortunate cancellation, Command & Conquer has always been a series that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but comes across as if it really is.

Pitching the philosophically divergent Brotherhood of Nod against the Global Defence Initiative, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun is a battle for resources across a ravaged planet that was every potential military commander’s dream come true. The two sprawling campaigns give you the chance to see the war from both side’s perspective, delivering phenomenal strategy gameplay with an cliched but exciting narrative that can’t really be balked at considering the non-existent price.

Team Fortress 2 - The world’s greatest fashion parade, Team Fortress 2 is a game that has become as much about hats as it has about weaponry and death-dealing. Bundled in for free for all of those with Steam, Team Fortress 2 is one of the ultimate examples of free-to-play gaming. Packing in dozens of maps, hundreds of updates, nine classes and ridiculous numbers of weapons, Team Fortress 2 is one of the best supported post-release games conceived. Released a whopping six years ago, Team Fortress 2 is still one of the most highly-played games and as of two years ago, completely free to boot.

Team Fortress 2 has been monetised somewhat, but the entire aspect is based around cosmetics and appearance, a glorified lead-spewing fashion show. Weapons, skins and hats are up for grabs, but not having access to any of these doesn’t spoil the balance of a frenetic contest. In the world of arena shooters you can’t go far wrong with Valve’s brilliant team-based shooter, the unique graphics and varied gameplay are standing up to the test of time admirably.

Battlefield Play4Free - Built on the still solid Battlefield 2 engine, Battlefield Play4Free is a stripped down Battlefield shooter that still features all the gameplay you’ve come to know and love. If you haven’t got the funds to stump up for a copy of Battlefield 4, or are waiting on getting the moolah together for a PC upgrade, Battlefield Play4Free offers up classic Battlefield for everyone’s favourite price point.

Offering that always addictive levelling up treadmill, this free edition of Battlefield has the potential to swallow up days worth of your time. The slightly faster paced pick up and play gameplay is great for when you’ve got a spare fifteen minutes to take the invading American/Russian (delete as appropriate) hordes.There are the dreaded micropayments unfortunately, but these can be scooted around, with enough regular play being rewarded with silver tokens that can be spent on skill trees and unlocks to your hearts content.

Cave Story - One of the best completely free single player experiences available, if you haven't heard of this indie smash yet then you likely are a cave story. Playing out like a gloriously old-school homage to Metroid, Cave Story is a shooting platformer that thrusts players into a bamboozling adventure featuring a battle in an enormous cavern between the rabbit-like Mimigas and the evil Doctor.

Created by now legendary Daisuke Amaya, Cave Story marks the lighting point for the recent surge in indie development interest, sparking a revolution in gaming that has led to this moment now where the next-gen consoles pin a significant amount of their hopes on the indie avalanche expected to hit them. Inspired by all of the classic games of yesteryear, this is all your favourite games exactly as you remembered them, rose-tinted spectacles and all. A true classic that is worth anyone’s time and could you save a small fortune from splashing out on this season’s most expensive titles.

DotA 2 - We have no factual evidence to back this up but we imagine DotA 2 is single-handedly responsible for 90% of mice sales, as mouse upon mouse is worn away from hours of blisteringly-fast clicking, so bear that in mind when downloading this freebie. DotA 2 has taken the online world by storm with its addictive combination of strategy and RPG mechanics; this hyper-competitive take on the insanely popular MOBA genre offers some of the deepest and most satisfying online gaming mechanics around.

Not many games expect you to suffer through your first week of playing, but bizarrely DotA 2 does just that, inviting you to get maimed, mauled, and murdered in hundreds of different ways. It might seem demoralising, but every death in this hyper-contested online world is a learning experience that lets you plumb this title’s sprawling depths. DotA 2 is a masterclass in strategy and nuance, inviting you back for just one more go.

As always, we couldn't fit every free game into these articles so there were inevitably some great titles that missed out, but the aim was always to get a varied spread of genres to demonstrate something for all. Feel free to let us know in the comments below what other free games you think are worthy of everyone's time, and happy gaming!

Source: game-debate.com

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PC Is The Fastest Growing Games Platform

Here at Game Debate, we've always championed PC as a gaming platform. But now, it seems, the versatility and quality of PC gaming is reaching more and more gamers.

Research by The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) shows that PC gaming – in the UK at least – is catching up with its main console competitors...

PC Gaming Can Offer A Truly High End Gaming Experience

UKIE's digital charts project have revealed that – in the first half of 2013 – the gaming market share for both boxed and digital PC titles rose by 5 per cent.

PC games titles accounted for 22 per cent of all purchases made between January and June 2013, almost equalling the PS3's 25 per cent market share.

The Xbox 360 still takes by far the biggest share of the market in the UK; accounting for 34 per cent on boxed purchases alone. The PS3 and Xbox 360 saw their sales rise by 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively, eating up the share lost by Nintendo's disastrous sales year.

The UK download charts for Q2 revealed that SimCity was the top download game in Q2, scandalously managing to beat off the magnificent Bioshock Infiniteto second place. Simulation games as a whole were the most popular game genre, making up 23 per cent of PC sales this year.

As you might expect, 2014 has been a very poor year for Nintendo. Their market share plummeted from 26% in 2012 (which included the Wii, DS and 3DS) to just 16% this year. Oddly the UKIE research figures don't feature Nintendo's most recent console – the Wii U – at all. What with the console's extremely low sales figures, this could merely suggest that sales are too low to be significant. Publishing giant EA was the number one in terms of combined boxed sales and downloads, followed closely by 2K Games and Sega.

With both Sony and Microsoft's next generation platforms launching this month, it's unlikely the PC will retain quite such strong results for 2014. The next year could see a big shake-up of the way we play games. Not only do we have next-gen consoles to look forward to, but the number of people choosing downloads over hard copies of games shows no sign of slowing, whilst the Steam Machine could also shake up the way we perceive home consoles in the future.

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The Best Free PC Games 2013 Edition

It might be nearly two full months until Christmas but you don’t need to wait until then to treat yourself to a game-shaped bundle of joy. Here today we present to you some of the best games you can play on PC now, without spending a penny.

The run up to the holiday season is perilously expensive on a gamer’s wallet, as stacks of AAA titles line up, jousting for interest amid their eye-gouging price tags. It’s by no means the cheapest time of year, so leading up to the holidays you can be forgiven for looking out for a gaming bargain, and none come higher recommended than these freebies...

So without further ado, here's part one of our Best Free Pc Games 2013 Edition!

Planetside 2 - When the original Planetside landed it made waves for its absolutely massive worlds and a player count to pitch, pitching thousands of players against each other server wide in incredible continental battles. Planetside 2 took all that made that game so great but expanded it to even larger proportions, and whacked a great big ‘FREE’ sticker on it for good measure.

This is a technically astounding and epic scale multiplayer warfare experience that makes Battlefield 4 look as ambitious as Pong, pitting three warring races against each other in vehicular and foot based combat that will blow your mind. Mixing together the best of FPS gameplay with the best MMOs, this is a hugely addictive title that’ll have you playing for months thanks to its constantly updated gameplay and sheer wealth of mechanics.

Beneath A Steel Sky - Pixel hunting perfection beamed onto PCs straight from the heart of the golden era of adventure gaming. Yes, we’re talking about the mid-90s. It was a glorious time to be an adventure gamer, from Monkey Island to Full Throttle, from Sam & Max to Simon the Sorceror. Beneath a Steel Sky was exactly one such title, a darkly humourous tale set in a dystopian future where Earth has been all but wiped out by pollution and nuclear fallout.

Resolutely old-school and always hilarious, this is a creative and compelling cyberpunk tale that upon revisiting is most definitely like a fine wine. Hint - it doesn’t taste like vinegar. Brought to you by famous adventure game designer Charles Cecil, this is one game not to be missed if you have an interest in the genre. Best of all of course, it went completely freeware in 2003 and is available right now for princely sum of zero pennies over at Good Old Games.

Spelunky - The absolutely scourge of many an office monkey’s lunch break, Spelunkyis sheer masochistic heaven, tasking you with doing the seemingly impossible. You’ll die. Lots. But you’ll keep coming back for more. This impossibly addictive rogue-like mining experience is a game that offers more replayability than any big-budget title, every time you have a go something will surprise you or you’ll learn a new way to achieve your goal.

A simple game at heart, this is both madly brilliant and abusively cruel, but you won’t be able to resist crawling back to its embrace and having just one more go. There’s so much to learn contained within Spelunky’s mineshaft that you’ll have to return hundreds of times to see really how far this particular rabbit hole goes. There’s a freeware version downloadable as well as a browser based version, so be sure to drop on in for a game of Spelunky, but you have been warned how maddenly addictive this little blighter can be… 

Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe - Calling Hidden and Dangerous a little rough around the edges is a little like saying Clark Kent mildly enjoys spandex underwear. It’s been some time since anyone here at GD has played Hidden and Dangerous so bear in mind this is one title that may have you question whether you’ve accidentally sandpapered your eyeballs. Nevertheless this is a quality little title that gives a great impression of squad-based combat deep behind enemy lines.

Huge, varied, unique, and immensely challenging, this is as satisfying experience as it comes when everything somehow manages to be pulled off correctly. The closest thing it could be equated to is a 3D version of ultra-hard strategy classic Commandos, dropping you in behind enemy lines against preposterously accurate German soldiers. If you’ve got patience by the bucketload then this can be the ultimate hardcore squad-shooter experience, without spending a penny.

The Lord Of The Rings Online - Originally launching as a fully-fledged monthly subscription service, The Lord of the Rings Online stands out as one of the single most complete MMO experiences you can have for free. Starting from the shires of Hobbiton and taking in Rohan, Mordor and more, this is the ultimate Middle Earth experience. Very much a traditional MMORPG experience, Lord of the Rings Online is an experience polished to within an inch of its life.

While the majority of the game is available to you there are additional packs you can buy to breathe a bit more life into the content, such as huge quest packs and additional dungeons, as well as fully-fledged expansion packs. Despite this it’s one of the best implementations of the free to play ideas that we’ve seen yet, giving away a huge amount of content for very little in return, with the option always there if you want to get a bit more stuck into Middle Earth.

Source: game-debate.com

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Lets Start Battlefield 4:SHOWDOWN - EUROPE VS USA

Battlefield 4: Showdown Live - Europe vs. USA is a live stream of an epic 64-player Battlefield 4 match on Xbox One, pitting two hand-picked teams representing Europe and USA against each other.

The USA and Europe teams are led by two prominent gaming profiles - Major Nelson and AceyBongos - who will be playing as their respective team's Commander. The live stream will give you a first look of the BF4 expansion pack Second Assault, with many Battlefield moments guaranteed. Learn more about Second Assault here.

The Live Stream starts 11:00AM PDT/7:00PM CET on Nov 1.

Buy Now

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Battlefield 4: China Rising Expansion Gets Release Date

Upcoming Battlefield 4 expansion China Rising will become available to Battlefield 4 Premium members on December 3rd.

The release date was revealed in the Premium content calendar located in the game's menu...

Premium Members Can Get The DLC Two Weeks Early

The expansion – one of the five expansions due to launch for Battlefield 4 – introduces four maps across“the vast and majestic Chinese mainland” as well as new weapons and vehicles. The pack will also become available to gamers who pre-ordered Battlefield 4 through certain participating retail stores, although it's not clear yet when these users will be able to access the additional content. Non-Premium members can purchase the DLC two weeks after the Premium launch.

China Rising will be the second expansion pack released onto the first person shooter. Battlefield 4: Second Assault, which will contain four of the most popular maps from Battlefield 3, is scheduled to release on Xbox One on 22nd November.

Battlefield 4 is available to buy on current-gen consoles and PC from today in North America. Gamers in Japan and Australia can get their hands on a copy tomorrow, whilst those in the EU will have to wait until Thursday. The game will be available at launch on next-gen consoles.

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Forza Motorsport 5 Car Pass And Gameplay Trailer Unveiled

Forza Motorsport 5 developer Turn10 has revealed the game's Car Pass.

The Car Pass is effectively a season pass, designed to add over 60 new DLC cars to the Xbox One launch title...

Forza Motorsport 5 will be releasing monthly car packs with ten new cars in each pack. Car Pass owners will be able to access all of these for a discounted price.

Each car downloaded will be fully customizable and will come with “a full Forzavista experience”. Players will be able to walk around the car, check out the interiors, start up and rev the engine, and learn all about the model's history and performance statistics.

Fans interested in the new cars on offer in Forza Motorsport 5 can check out the game's virtual showroom, which is updated every Wednesday with new cars that will be playable upon the title's November 22nd launch.

Last week, Turn10 also unveiled a new gameplay trailer showing the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta in action around Belgium's iconic F1 circuit; Spa. You can check it out below.

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Call Of Duty: Ghosts Full Weapon List Revealed

For those of you whose trigger finger is feeling decidedly itchy, calm your frayed nerves, settle down your deathmatch urges, for Call of Duty: Ghosts will be here for all to enjoy in a matter of days.

In the meantime, the full weapons list has been leaked by a Twitter user, giving us our first full glimpse at what we can expect to spend the next thousand hours of our gaming time with…

One Of Many Leaked Weapon Screenshots From The Banned Twitter Account

Being based upon near-future and fictional events gives the team at Infinity Ward a little bit of leeway to tweak what we’ve come to expect from these weapons, so not everything may be exactly as it meets the eye.

Of particular interest to many is the new Marksmen category and class. This is designed for those who enjoying dealing death from afar but prefer a faster fire rate, a solid entry point into what can be a pretty daunting sniping world.

Assault Rifles

SC-2010

SA0-805

AK-12

FAD

Remington R5

MSBS

Honey Badger

ARX-160

LMGs

Ameli

M27-IAR

LSAT

Chain SAW

SMGs

Bizon

CBJ-MSVector CRB

Vepr

K7

MTAR-X

Shotguns

Bulldog

FP6

MTS-255

Tac 12

Sniper Rifles

USR

L1155

Lynx

VKS

Marksman Rifles

IA2

Mk 14 EBR

MR-28

SVU Dragunov

Call of Duty Ghosts is set to launch on November 5th for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U, with next-gen editions launching beside their respective consoles.

Source : game-debate.com

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Sapphire Radeon R9 290 pictured and ‘tested’

We are very close to the official launch of the Radeon R9 290, a slower sibling of R9 290X.

Chinese forums are always worth a check before major announcements. Today a member of Chiphell forums posted a first preview of Sapphire R9 290 graphics card, including some photos and two 3Dmark tests (here we go again).

Performance varies in both tests, while R9 290 is actually slower in 3Dmark 11 by 3%, but outperforms GTX 780 by 9% in 3DMark Fire Strike.

The leaker claims that the score should actually be better in with the AMD card, the lower score could’ve been caused by unsupported drivers. That’s partially a reason why GPU-Z cannot read the data correctly, at least it read the clocks right.

3Dmark 11 (Extreme Preset)
AMD Radeon R9 290 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780





3Dmark Fire Strike (Extreme Preset)AMD Radeon R9 290 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780

 

Sapphire Radeon R9 290

Sapphire’s R9 290 looks exactly the same as their 290X, that includes 6+8-pin power connectors and missing CrossFire fingers, but that’s not surprising of course.

We are pretty much familiar with the rest of the design. Sapphire was the only manufacturer to put more stickers on the cooler, rather than only on the fan. The label clearly states that we are looking at non-X model, which is also confirmed by the stickers at the back. You can also spot the BIOS switch, proving that R9 290 will support Uber and Quiet modes too.

If you somehow missed the specs of this card then let me make a short recap. R9 290 is based on Hawaii PRO processor, which sports 2560 Stream Processors (290X has 2816). The number of ROPs is still 64, but Texture Units were reduced to 160. The R9 290 is also using 512-bit interface with 4GB GDDR5 memory, which is a very good option considering the price (which is expected around $450).

AMD Radeon R9 290 will be released on October 31st.

Source: Chiphell

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FIFA 14 Next Gen Footage Finally Revealed

The first next-gen FIFA footage has finally arrived; we were getting worried whether it was going to make it out of the player’s tunnel for launch after being absent until just two weeks before the upcoming Playstation 4 launch.

Calm yourself though, for the footage is finally here for FIFA 14, and it certainly looks the real deal for what is sure to be a multi-million signing when it comes to the next-gen console launches…

The Next-Gen Engine Can Even Make Joe Hart's Goalkeeping Look GoodAll 

of the footage from the trailer 

below is captured from PS4 and Xbox One gameplay and is promising a raft or improvements using the new next-gen engine, including in-air play, precision movements, elite techniques and pro instincts.

Sounds like marketing mumbo-jumbo to us but it certainly looks the business, the crowds in particular give the game another visual dimension; for too many years we’ve grown accustomed to cardboard cutouts or hideously uniform polygonal models. If you’re more Cantonot than Cantona then these alterations will undoubtedly mean little to you, but for the upcoming launch it’s looking like this will be the go-to sports game.

It most definitely looks like the closest you can get to owning a mansion in Essex and having your own fleet of sports cars; or is that tantamount to slavery? Who knows...

Source: game-debate.com

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Call of Duty Ghosts New Extinction Mode Enters An Area We Like To Call The Twilight Zo

We’ve had a close encounter with the third kind this weekend as Activision has posted a teaser clip of a brand new game mode set to feature in Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Dubbed ‘Extinction’, the new game mode looks set to give the Call of Duty formula an extraterrestrial twist, and images have been leaked by an Imgur user that got their hands on an early copy of the game…

Extinction Mode's Alien Life Certainly Looks Like It Needs Shooting

Not content with the series’ now staple Zombies horde mode, Infinity Ward has taken a step further into sci-fi weirdness with the unlockable Extinction mode.

In the new mode, players will take on a rather menacing looking alien force (Think less 'flying saucers', more flying projectiles) that is set to come all different shapes and sizes in order to complete a number of objectives and challenges in a similar manner to Zombies mode. The leaked images so far seem to indicate that you must work together as a team to take down the alien hives using some sort of drill device.

The mode is set to be class-based as well as featuring what looks to be a host of unlockables to take down the alien menace, based upon challenges and upgradeable skill points. Check out the pretty funking looking teaser below to raise your hype levels through the roof for Infinity Ward's upcoming over-the-top shooter.

Obviously we can expect a lot more information on the upcoming mode throughout the week, as we are just over one week away from the game’s 5th November release date on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: game-debate.com

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Meet The Radeon R9-290X

PC gamers, rejoice, for the launch of AMD’s latest single GPU flagship has finally arrived! The AMD Radeon R9-290X was officially first teased back at last month's GPU14 event, but not until now have we known the the full details of what to expect from such a device.

It's immediately apparent that this could be a card that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. The R9 290X represents an incredible value proposition for gamers, combining top notch performance with incredible build quality. So, let's take a look at what we can expect from AMD's flagship card...


Radeon R9 290X Specifications

The Radeon 290X specs pack in a 1000MHz Core Clock, 4GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1250 MHz on a huge 512-bit memory interface, accompanied by a massive collection of 2816 Stream Processors.

It uses a single PCIe X16 slot, one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connector to provide power to the card. The 290X also has two BIOS settings, a physical switch on the card that lets you switch between Quiet Mode and Uber Mode.

Quiet mode caps performance and fan speeds to produce a quieter experience, whereas Uber mode aims for optimal performance, regardless of noise.

However, it may be noted that the difference is minimal between the two modes, often only a difference of a couple of frames per second. Users report that in some instances at lower resolutions, quiet mode outperformed Uber mode by a small margin. But in either preset, we can observe that the 290X is a little to a lot faster than the monstrous GTX 780.

The reference design provides 2 DVI-I connectors, an HDMI port, and one DisplayPort on the mounting bracket. With EyeFinity you can connect 6 displays to a single card, and the R9 series now supports up to 3 HDMI/DVI displays, with the rest being connected via DisplayPort. In order to work the monitors must have the same refresh rate and timings.

GTX 780 vs. R9-290X



For those gaming at 2560x1600 you can’t really go wrong with either card at this point, as both average around 60FPS with all but two titles; Bioshock Infinite and Crysis 3. The 290X takes the lead in these two nonetheless, more specifically the 290X is notably faster than the GTX 780, with the exception of Grid 2, where the difference is too miniscule to be notable.

Now let's view the difference between the two juggernaut cards using the 3dMark Fire Strike benchmarking tools.



We can see that in synthetic benchmarks the 290X also outperforms the GTX 780, now this isn’t particularly notable, as synthetic benchmarks do not exactly translate into real world performance in many cases.

AMD has also released a 4K benchmark so we can see how AMD’s focus on 4K has developed



We can see that nearly every game ran at a comfortable 30FPS or better on Ultra quality, with the exception of the system melting Crysis 3.

Peripherals and Features




The Radeon R9 290X features a revamped OverDrive system in which you can increase the clock through percentages rather than actual clock speed, but the most notable addition is undoubtedly the heat map. Stating the maximum fan speeds and target temperatures, the heat map helps you overclock and obtain the balance between added performance and added heat.

However, on the subject of heat, the card runs at a less than stellar 95 degrees Celsius (203 degrees Fahrenheit). However, AMD has claimed that the card can run at this high temperature safely throughout the card's lifetime, and there is no technical reason to reduce the temperature (with the exception of factory OC’d cards.) AMD has stated those who wish to keep the temperature down should invest in an aftermarket cooler, not exactly the greatest customer service for pre-order customers but nevertheless...



Multi-GPU enthusiasts can bid a fond farewell to CrossFire bridges, since you can run two cards in CFX simply by installing them to the motherboard.



Audiophiles, will be happy to see that True Audio Technology will be included with the R9-290X, this technology lets programmers use Tensilica HiFi EP Audio DSP to process audio without utilizing the processor, it removes the possibility of the CPU bottlenecking the sound processing.



ZeroCore Power makes a reappearance, powering down the GPU when idle; the driver monitors tasks and display content to determine whether or not the GPU needs to process changes on-screen.

As well as this of course the upcoming Mantle API will be implemented in all GCN cards; this update will roll out in December giving a “pedal to the metal experience”.



Source: game-debate









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