Posted 06/04/09 at 11:30:00 AM by David Murphy

E3!  E3!  E3!  There is seemingly nothing more important right now than checking out the latest iteration of some made-for-14-year-old-girls title at that big LA convention.  Feh.  You know what the worst thing about E3 is?  It's not the lack of awkward-looking hot actors to stare at, nor is it the barrage of press meetings, demonstrations, and pomp and circumstance for less-than-stellar titles.  The worst thing about E3 is that all the games you see there cost money.  That's right.  Cash.  For every neat title you're seeing, there's a price tag attached at the end of the day.  Want new graphics in a hot sequel?  You'll pay for it.  Want to blow up 255 of your closest console friends?  Ask for your allowance early.  Feel like waving your hand around to simulate an activity you can do in real life?  Get a real-life job.

This week, I'm strolling down memory lane and profiling some of the best games from that other gaming conference in California.  You know the one--good ol' GDC, or the Game Developers Conference.  Each year, the Independent Games Festival takes up shop amidst the chaos of this convention and awards a host of independent (and often free) titles awards of various persuasions.  There's a long list of contenders that come to the IGF every year: here's a list of five of the most interesting, enjoyable, and free titles I've found.

Click the jump to check out the cream of the freeware gaming crop!

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Posted 02/03/09 at 10:57:25 AM by Paul Lilly

Just how awesome is Intel's Core i7 architecture? According to Intel, Core i7 processors pack enough punch to supplant some of the graphics chores typically handled by GPUs from Nvidia and AMD.

"Learn how to easily add real-time 3D smoke, fog and other fluid simulations to your game without using up the GPU," Intel pitches to potential attendees on a webpage titled Intel at Game Developers Conference. "In this session, we will present the source code to a fluid simulator optimized for multi-core CPUs."

According to Tom R. Halfhill, an analyst at the Microprocessor Report and Maximum PC columnist, Intel might be seeking ways to make better use of its quad-core processors, though Halfhill said "I need to be convinced that a CPU can do those 3D effects better than a GPU can."

Dedicated graphics processors are typically better suited for high-end effects, but Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research (JPR) says there are exceptions. "Not all algorithms and processes map well to a GPU. You have to have a problem that is naturally parallel, and except for the rendering of, say, a water surface and subsurface and reflections, the wave motion equations will just fine on a CPU."

Maybe now you have that excuse you've been looking for to justify a quad-core upgrade.

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Posted 02/15/08 at 08:31:37 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

This week, Dave, Gordon, and Andy talk tons about Maximum PC's self-created storage benchmark of complete awesomeness. We also preview all the sweet Game Developers Conference announcements (and rumors) for next week, and light the funeral pyre for HD-DVD. We hardly knew thee.

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

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