Ghost Recon: Future Soldier talked of him (in difficulty)

Suspicion if you have pre-ordered the title from Ubisoft. First U.S. release on PC returns are for the less mixed. In question including: of (too) many technical problems.

Available for two days at the United States (our tower should come today), the Ghost Recon PC version: Future Soldier finished more to shout the players on specialized forums: problems of frame rate, unable to use a keyboard combo mouse (!) or to properly adjust the display resolution, the game is hoist with impressive speed in the top 5 of the PC ports most ripoux of these last five years.

Of course, we could simply to accompany this information to a terse comment that explains, in substance, that this kind of output is unfortunately more often that you would (Yes, Yes, Mr. Blizzard, it is you you are watching with insistence), and that these issues will be quickly resolved and forgotten. Of course... Except that here, the fault is attributable to Ubisoft, a firm that took the detestable habit 1 - we deliver versions PC with a month delay on the consoles, - 2 versions to consider more generally the world of the PC as the fifth wheel carriage videogame.

(The war is ugly...) (Mainly on PC)

The case of Ghost Recon FS is particularly telling, as the PC version of the title mit some time to appear on development schedules, then was withdrawn, and reappeared, but in the form of a simple Ghost Recon Online, based on the previous version of the game, because that good, still/embittered mode ON "it will not be left to develop beautiful novelty to a band of pirates who were absolutely". no respect for quality games, or the work of creation. "bitter/mode OFF. One might also cite the case of From Dust, the God Game of Eric Chahi as an example of this philosophy for the less radical. While the game was a departure in brass band on the XBLA platform, was open in miles by the PC community. In question, the need to maintain a permanent connection to the internet to play, a constraint which Ubisoft had also always denied.

If we understand the breakdown of the French editor for our expensive machines (piracy, competition from consoles, all, all), it can only hope a reversal of its policy, both the PC market seems to be on a rising slope lately. Indeed, the graphics engines slamming flower as fungi (Frostbyte 2, Unreal, CryEngine 3, Crystal Engine), and it seems clear that in the absence of new machinery of salon, this are PCs that will be put on the front of the stage in the year coming. Indeed, fills the hypocrisy, it's a PC that turn beautiful Watch Dogs at E3 a few weeks ago. CQFD.

Guild Wars 2, it is for the August 28!

Here it is, it's done, it's official, it is engraved in the marble: the much awaited Guild Wars 2 will be released on August 28. Then could extend to the pages to express our happiness, but sometimes, some images are better than a long speech...

Diablo III, 3DS, Kinect, etc.: a point on the sales of the video game in France

Several sources of information to make a small review of the sales of games and consoles in France since the beginning of the year, with - rare thing - quite accurate figures.

At the Cannes IDEF exhibition for professionals in the video game, GameCharts is a rather complete point on the sales of games, devices and consoles in France. Covered by GfK, the figures disclosed by companies in the sector are not complete, but make a small never superfluous point on the status of the game in France.

In terms of games, since January 1, 2012, the best-selling game in France is other than Diablo III. Released May 15 (which only adds to the performance), the hack' no slash of Blizzard sold best 174.000... And are counted here that sales of boxes, and not many digital copies sold! At the second place positions Just Dance 2 on Wii with best 129.000, evidence that music games are more recipe, those dance work well. It is followed by CoD Modern Warfare 3 that closes the podium with 150.000 copies sold on PS3.

Top 10 best-selling games in France since January 1st:

Diablo III (PC) 174.000Just Dance 2 (Wii) 129.000Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3) 122.000Mario Kart 7 (3DS) 112.000Mario Party 9 (Wii) 107.000Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) 96.000Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii) 81.000Battlefield 3 (PS3) 75.000FIFA 12 (PS3) 73.000FIFA Street (PS3) 68,000

Other information obtained, sales of Kinect, for Xbox 360 motion sensor. At the end of the month of may, are France 697.000 players who have purchased the device. Worldwide, Kinect is 19 million passed copies. The Xbox 360 - more old console of this generation - was able to extend its longevity and find a blow of fasting, even if good Kinect games are rare.

In Nintendo, GameCharts tells us that the Nintendo 3DS has just pass the one million units sold in France. An Honourable performance for a portable console whose much - too - soon anticipated the failure on its release in March 2011, in a market where competition from smartphones and tablets is sharp. But he is still the path to both the DS that passed the bar of the 10 million copies sold. As the Big N show console, the Wii, is approaching 6 millions of machines installed in France.

Include for Les Echos that, in relying on data GfK, are a scene interesting progression of sales of games for download, which is necessarily the wrong boxes by signs sales brick & mortar. Thus, we see that on the first half of 2012, living room consoles sales are down 17% in value (CA EUR 174 million), which represents 443.000 past machines (-20% a year). -Side laptops, this is much better, with a decline in sales of 14%. But PS Vita is released and the Nintendo 3DS instead found the form. And despite the phenomenon of Diablo III, value games sales overall are down 10% (EUR 362 million). Georges Fornay, president of the SELL and former CEO of CES France, this is logical given the fact that have to be end-of-cycle and that the economic situation remains complicated.

But in the end, GfK expects to post stable figures for the video game in any year end. The Institute on the release of the Wii U and 3ds XL, as well as on the growth of sales of dematerialized games should represent CA EUR 550 million against 450 million year passed. 60 million euros (+ 100%) should also be generated by sales of pre-payees cards and online Pass. Finally, note that the accessories and peripherals are in progress, they should generate EUR 88 million for the year.

Google Glass, Nexus Q and Nexus 7: new Google I/O

Account of the Google I/O conference, where the American giant presented (and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean) three important products: its tablet, a "Box" audio-video and... the glasses!

Once is not custom, let's start with the end... That is to say the Google Glasses that the giant has presented any end of its Google I/O conference. It is of course the most surprising announcement, because even if we had already heard about these Google goggles, no one dared imagine that their marketing would be announced as quickly. It is therefore Sergei Brin who climbed on stage to introduce them, with a small staging spectacular well-oiled as Americans know so well to do.

In these glasses, there is a transparent screen to display information actually increased in the field of vision of the user (heads-up display), but also a photo/video sensor, a microphone, a touchpad on the branch, a gyroscope and modules for wireless connectivity... It is quite amazing to see where we are today in terms of miniaturization. And for nothing spoil Googles promises that his Glasses are "less heavy than a pair of sunglasses". Also, their design was thought to adapt by above a traditional pair of glasses.

Available in pre-order only for US developers who participated in the Google I/O 2012 for the moment, the "Google Glass Explorer Edition" kit will be charged $ 1500 (still!). Also will need them to be patient, since deliveries will be made in any early in the year 2013. On marketing to the general public, Google nothing would say.

Another surprise of the conference Google, the presentation of a strange object connected: the Nexus Q (in reference to the inventor of agent 007 gadgets?). It is, in short, a multimedia module, which runs on Android and can benefit from Google Play (ex-Android market). It can therefore be seen as a device registering in the lineage of the Google TV project, even if the American giant introduced as a new product. But nobody is fooled, and everywhere the Nexus Q is mentioned as a competitor to the Apple TV. Except that sold $ 300, it is nearly three times more expensive than Apple's TV package. Of course, it is offering more features.

In fact, it's a strange sphere to the highly futuristic design that is a little less 12 cm in diameter (a CD) and weighs 925 grams. He first embarked an amplifier (Class D, 2 x 12, 5W) and can be connected to a pair of passive speakers, but also any electronics that makes a perfect Android terminal. Judge for yourself: SoC Texas Instruments OMAP 4460, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB of storage. What to run Android 4.0 carefree. The rest of the connections it is provided: micro-HDMI output audio output digital and analog, micro-USB, Ethernet, WiFi n dual-band port port...

There is also the presence of a NFC module! Interesting, it allows playback of music or video from an Android NFC (smartphone or Tablet) terminal on its audio-video installation which is connected the Nexus Q, and this simply approaching his apparatus of the sphere. Indeed, no remote control is comes with Nexus Q, fully driven through terminals Android, which gives the possibility to many residents of the same household to interact with him.

For the moment, commercialization applies only to the United States, and will be only on the Google Play Store. Deliveries from mid-July.

Finally, let's finish this account of advertising products Google I/O by the product whereas, one for which there was more surprise to hope: the Nexus tablet. As agreed, it is in the format "7 and is meant to be a real competitor to the Kindle Fire of Amazon, with his own aggressive tariff, with a sale price to $ 199.

For this price, the Tablet made in partnership with Asus embarked a SoC NVIDIA Tegra 3, screen IPS in 1280 x 800 pixels (216 dpi resolution) protected by Gorilla Glass, a sensor photo/video of 1.2 MP front and modules, WiFi n, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC, an accelerometer, gyroscope and a magnetometer. The storage is entrusted to 8 GB of internal memory, and it regrets the lack of a port for SD cards to extend this space. For further information, it will be a choice the 16 GB version, sold $ 249.

                   

With its small size, the Tablet displays a weight of only 340 grams. Integrating a 4325 mAh battery, it promises a beautiful range of 9 h in video playback and more than 10 h in surf (300 h standby). Current July, only American, Canadian, Australian and English will be available. Other countries, once again with Google, to be patient.

Age of Empires Online : Free to prendre une raclée

The update called "summer" of the game was to sign his passage in a mode really Free-to-Play. Disappointment among the players: If the game is now well free, he is coward of new balances for the less aberrant.

"I have the beating of my life", "I just get run over by a herd of gastrophetes, it bites!", "I have well hatchback seeing AI send me a single file Rams 30...". "Then I uninstalled the game." The least that can be said, is that the passage in Free-to-Play of Age of Empires Online, operated there now ten days, will did not that happy.

Of course, the game did let on its economic model. Recall that initially, AoEO was the choice of a hybrid system, the heart of the game being available free of charge (sub-quests, levelling, and two civilizations in base), the rest requiring a passage to the Fund (new "premium" so-called civilization, or additional game modes). Problem: not only the prices were far from show of unanimity, but new revenue civilization surpassed far other, creating of imbalances in confrontations PvP (a classical model of pay to win, in short).

With this update, Gas Powered Games has incorporated a currency in game, Imperial points, that players can acquire, depending on their preference, to great blows of credit card, or by performing a series of quests. And now is the currency which will allow to buy this famous additional content. In theory, the recipe seemed pretty good, since if the gains remained relatively low during the phase of levelling, high level, they became more substantial, offering really disillusioned players to join their wealthy peers in the top of the ranking tables.

Yes, but in fact,... As a grain of sand came to slip in this well-oiled mechanics, a modification of AI, which turned the lesser search POI in real way of the cross: rich or not, players are rosser battle after battle by an adversary the ability of elite units seems to be without limit. Developers argue the bug, seek clemency, and hope to correct the shot as soon as possible. It's all the evil that we want them to, because with a more balanced economic model, there was no doubt that this game, which is moreover very pleasant on the merits, could know a second wind.

Google + share recommendations hunting

Google social network now offers recommendations for reading via the use of the "+ 1" button.

A few hours before the opening of the Google I/O 2012 conference scheduled to take place in the late afternoon (18 h 30 GMT + 1), + Google launches a new modification of the behaviour of its module "+ 1". Hallmark of its social network, the firm of Mountain View will display a few weeks for all of its members to the recommendations of reading on the pages visited, flying over button + 1.

Google said that recommendations will cover only the pages of the visited domain and no other external pages. Recommendations can come also his network of friends and readers who approved a page or another. The developers of Google + blog shows an example with the Chrome Web Store that displays recommendations for applications to install in addition to Gmail App.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean available mid-July, what's new?

At the Google I/O conference, the search giant officially launched the big update of its OS mobile Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean. What is new?

Google has as planned unveiled the new version of its mobile OS Android, including the name of code Jelly Bean is now official and number in version 4.1.

This update of Ice Cream Sandwich, available by mid-July, will be first proposed in OTA (Over The Air automatically via Wi - Fi or 3 G update) on smartphones Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom tablet.

Jelly Bean does not merely to be that a minor update, it has many new features that we will present to you below.

The graphic interface, first, has undergone many changes and optimizations under the code name "Project Butter" so that fluidity felt in the navigation between screens is the 60 frames per second. The reactivity of Android was flawless thanks to the setting up of a triple buffering and Vsync which allow a better synchronization of the CPU and the GPU for display smoothly. More no lag or slowdown should then come and ruin the user experience.

    

Widgets are now able automatically size elements that are already and remaining on the screen instead.The bar of notifications becomes bigger and becomes even more interactive with available actions directly without having to open the dedicated application. For example, when a call is missed, notification system to directly recall the correspondent or send him a text message without the need to open the call log or the sms application. Fast and effective! It is the same to read and respond to a mail or interact with Google + among other possibilities.Update applications has also been improved, so in some cases, it will be more essential to download all of the APK but just the files needed for the new version. Gain time and data transfer!The virtual keyboard has been reworked for a seizure again improved with a prediction of the words typed even better but also a voice input (typing Voice) more effective which requires no Internet connection for access to the Google servers because carried out directly by the terminal. Available initially in English and then in French a little later.

    

Voice Search brings voice search to the Apple's Siri with operation that allows to ask questions in natural language, Jelly Bean can propose responses via the Google search engine to questions such as "Who is the Prime Minister of the Japan?", or even "Show me images of marmoset".Is Google Now a little figure of "Big brother is watching you" because this technology allows all personal data collected by smartphone or Tablet (geolocation, history of navigation, agenda, contacts, addresses etc.) offer targeted information until it is needed to apply them. For example you go to an evening with a friend in Paris, if your appointment was noted in your agenda, Google Now you remember of course but also give you the information to visit the place where you are with schedules of trains, buses and metro the closest or road traffic. A little intrusive but this may be convenient for some people a little head in the air.

Many other new features and improvements were also incorporated as the function camera that allows for picture-taking to view taken photos and remove a finger gesture, or even enhancement of the native web browser both in performance HTML5, CSS 3 but also Javascript.

For developers, the SDK of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available on the dedicated website.

Users to other terminals to be the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Motorola Xoom they expect announcements of different manufacturers and operators in order to know the dates of any updated official planned or expected that customs Roma see the day where applicable.