Episode 475: Sterling Reviews

This week’s episode is 50% longer as the first 20 minutes or so are devoted to the reaction to Jim Sterling’s explosive review of Hellblade and his subsequent recanting later that day. This week has no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there are six news items to make up for it.

The items include:

  • EA talks about Nintendo Switch support
  • Rainbow Six: Siege “Operation Blood Orchid” update launches August 29
  • Myth-inspired RTS Deadhold charges into Early Access later this month
  • No Man’s Sky “Atlas Rises” update adds story content and “limited” online co-op
  • EA says Star Wars: Battlefront “lacked long-term goals”
  • Moons of Madness is Lovecraftian horror on Mars

Let us know what you think.

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This week’s news also made Paul explode. Twice:

  • Congressmen want warning labels on all games
  • Exec: Console version of Diablo III will be “full Blizzard experience”
  • Grand Theft Auto V details allegedly leaked
  • EVE Online FanFest Panel accused of “tasteless” behavior
  • Rumor: Microsoft to release ‘Xbox Lite’ before next-gen

The winners of The Darkness II contest were also announced. All this in an episode bursting full of good, old-fashioned bitchiness.

Will Sony Reduce Prices and Heat with 45nm Chips?Will Sony Reduce Prices and Heat with 45nm Chips?

Reportedly we’re going to see smaller 45 nanometer cell processors in 2009 which leads to similar cost savings as we saw in the Xbox 360 hardware. Cost savings appear on the manufacturing side, of course, along with less power consumed by the processor leading to less heat generated by the console.

The Xbox 360 was able to benefit from chip reduction when for stability and overall heat issues, although the stability is still out for debate at the moment. The concept is fairly simple to understand; heat causes problems in closed systems with few fans and a high degree of complex components. Reduce the heat means reducing the overall need to cool and get air flow into the hot little box.

Console hardware is owned by a broad audience, not all of which understand technology and its ability to boil an egg. Consumers toss consoles and their power supplies in closed cases within their entertainment system and restrict air flow further. Any reduction in heat is a good thing for the console developer.

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