Weekend tech reading: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 announced

[Matthew DeCarlo]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 announced, could ambush multiple platforms GSC Game World has officially revealed that it's working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, a sequel to the trilogy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games already released for the PC. Thought the announcement comes with little information, rumors of a console version took one step closer to reality. The Escapist

Rage dropping Sept. 13, 2011 For years, id has responded to questions about the release timing of its games with one simple phrase: "When it's done." However, today at QuakeCon 2010 in Dallas, the studio's lead designer gave the ambitious new game Rage a hard launch date of September 13, 2011, in North America. The postapocalyptic hybrid of first-person shooter and driving game will arrive on the PC, Mac, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in Europe on September 15, 2011. GameSpot

Apple manager arrested in kickback scheme A midlevel Apple manager was arrested Friday and accused of accepting more than $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment unsealed and a separate civil suit. Paul Shin Devine, a global supply manager, and Andrew Ang, of Singapore, were named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud, money laundering and kickbacks. Mercury News

Nvidia to pay royalties to Rambus; litigation not over Rambus and Nvidia agreed to sign a patent license on Friday, giving Nvidia access to the Rambus memory-controller patents in exchange for royalties.The terms are consistent with the license that Rambus has offered in cooperation with the European Comission: a 1 percent royalty rate for SDR memory controllers, and a 2 percent royalty rate for other memory controllers, including DDR, DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR, LPDDR2, GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4, and portions of GDDR5 memory controllers. PC Mag

Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit 'baseless' Oracle's decision to sue Google for infringing its patents and copyright on Java in Android has certainly stirred up a hornets' nest of commentary and analysis on the web today, but it's only just now that we've received Google's official statement, in which the search giant calls the suit "baseless" and vows to "defend open-source standards." Engadget

PayPal may be added as way to buy Android apps Ebay Inc.'s PayPal business is in talks to add its payment service to Google Inc.'s Android smart-phone software, which would make it easier for users to pay for applications, three people familiar with the matter said. SF Chronicle

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/39967-weekend-tech-reading-stalker-2-announced.html

 

[EXCellR8]

I love STALKER

wish they would keep it PC only though...

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't like to be Nvidia these days

 

[dividebyzero]

Looking forward to the STALKER 2 progress reports. While the X-Ray engine gives the games a distinctive feel that fits well with the subject matter, I can't help wondering what the game would look like with something like CryEngine 3 powering it.
2012...according to some people we could all be living in a STALKER enviroment by the time the game is due to launch....Hopefully I'll get to tackle the STALKER:CoP Complete and Lost Alpha (SoC) mods before the mutants come a'calling in real-time (captain cranky will probably, and justifiably, say they're already here)

 

[red1776]

Looking forward to the STALKER 2 progress reports. While the X-Ray engine gives the games a distinctive feel that fits well with the subject matter, I can't help wondering what the game would look like with something like CryEngine 3 powering it.
2012...according to some people we could all be living in a STALKER enviroment by the time the game is due to launch....Hopefully I'll get to tackle the STALKER:CoP Complete and Lost Alpha (SoC) mods before the mutants come a'calling in real-time (captain cranky will probably, and justifiably, say they're already here)

Me TOO! I am using ArtistPavel mods for CS and SOC and looking forword to COP complete, although from the updates...or lack of, I fear the project may have fizzled. I hope I am wrong it is one of the few games i really have enjoyed all of the installments of the series.

 

[fwilliams]

It is nice to see that Rage will be available next year. I hope Diablo 3 gets done soon!

 

[dividebyzero]

@red
ArtistPavel posted on the board today, so hopefully it's still a go. This could be like waiting for a cab...nothing, then a gaggle show up at once...hopefully!
Lost Alpha is still the one I'm hanging out for. After having seen theTarkovsky film and read "A Roadside Picnic" I was a little disappointed when the original game came out, since it deviated so markedly from the original Oblivion Lost concept. The Lost Alpha project seems as though it will try to recapture some of the original, and with the teams Priboi Story mod being so well executed and bug free, I'm hoping LA is going to be the mod that tops them all. With it ranked 10th out of 12,367, I'm obviously not alone!-not bad for an unreleased mod.

 

[red1776]

Artistpavel
Artistpavel 5hours 41mins ago says:

Hang on, everything's alive and kicking.

although from the updates...or lack of, I fear the project may have fizzled

LOL, well that was unfortunate timing on my part!
Glad to see it is still going to happen.

for any other fans, I posted some screens of the modded version, it is really a great rework of the game. and stable as well. The original, as most know, was riddled with bugs and crashes.
thanks for the update Chef.

https://www.techspot.com/gallery/member-galleries/p3890-s-t-a-l-k-e-rclear-s.html
https://www.techspot.com/gallery/member-galleries/p3892-s-t-a-l-k-e-rclear-s.html
https://www.techspot.com/gallery/member-galleries/p3891-s-t-a-l-k-e-rclear-s.html

 

[Tekkaraiden]

Guest said:
I wouldn't like to be Nvidia these days

Nor would I, not building i5/i7 chipsets has got to be hurting them financially.

 

[EXCellR8]

so wait... AP is canceled for Call of Pripyat!?

 

[red1776]

so wait... AP is canceled for Call of Pripyat!?

No , he is still working on the mod, he posted today saying it was 'still alive and kicking' no eta on completion though.

 

[EXCellR8]

ah, well that's a relief

 

[red1776]

EXC, here is his site and another mod site that tracks his work,

http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-complete
http://artistpavel.blogspot.com/

****EDIT, come to think of it....I thought I read that there was an Alpha availible to try out. I will try and find it.....so YOU can install it and let us know how it goes!