Hacks

It apparently didn't take long for a software engineer to make Microsoft's new Xbox 360 motion controller-camera Kinect to work on a Windows 7 PC. A person belongin to the NUI Group has already created a PC driver for Kinect that uses the camera, accelerometer and other features on the device.

Of course it's just a few step; don't expect to be playing StarCraft II with just your hand movements for a long time, if ever. GameSpot has gotten Microsoft to comment on this latest development with Microsoft saying, basically that this new driver is not a hack, stating that ' ... the software and hardware that are part of Kinect for Xbox 360 have not been modified." However the statement added that such a drive is naturally not supported by Microsoft, stating, "We strongly encourage customers to use Kinect for Xbox 360 with their Xbox 360 to get the best experience possible."

[Via Engadget]

This past week, Microsoft's Kinect camera controller for its Xbox 360 console finally made it to stores. Now a group has decided to give a $2,000 prize to the first development team that can create open source drivers that will make the Kinect hardware to work on PCs and other devices.

But it's clear that Microsoft doesn't care for this project at all. News.com reports that a Microsoft spokesperson stated, "Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products." It added that it has put in "numerous hardware and software safeguards" into Kinect to keep it working just for the Xbox 360 and that it will "work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

In 2007, Valve released The Orange Box collection for both the PC and Xbox 360. Xbox 360 owners, however, actually got a version of the original Half-Life 2 in their port of The Orange Box that is graphically better than the current PC version. That's because Valve decided to give the Xbox 360 port all of the updates they had made to the Source Engine since Half-Life 2 was released for the PC back in 2004, including support for HDR lighting and improved character models.

While Valve doesn't seem in a hurry to give PC owners those kind of updates, a group of modders have taken it on themselves to bring the original Half-Life 2 up to speed with the graphical updates that were put into Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (released in The Orange Box). They even hacked in some new Steam achievements. You can see the differences in the YouTube video above. It's currently unknown how Valve feels about this kind of modification but if you want to try it out this Steam message board thread has some download links for the mod.

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

Digital Illusions made a design choice to make their recent action game Mirror's Edge a first-person game, But in the PC version of the title there does exist a way to experience the game in a third person viewpoint, a perspective that maybe should have been tried in the first place.

The hack to enable the feature comes from the message boards of the fan site On-Mirror's-Edge. If you want the exact procedure for it we got it right here:

go to "DocumentsEA GamesMirror's EdgeTdGameConfig"

open the file "TDInput" with notepad.

add this line to the "bindings" list:
Bindings=(Name="F4",Command="FreeFlightCamera",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

press F4 a few times. first you get the free cam (noclip) and later the third person cam.

The Youtube video above gives some idea of what the game will look like with the hack enabled. It's not perfect (you can't move the camera up or down, there are clipping issues and the animations of the legs don't look right) but if you have played the game and not been happy with its first person perspective this might be an improvement.

[Via Shacknews]

It didn't take long for the mod community to start looking into ways to put some extra features into Valve's demo for their upcoming zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. One post on the game's official message board has instructions on how to enable split-screen co-op into the demo. You will need an Xbox 360 controller to make it happen, however.

Yet another forum post has written up a way to enable people to play as one of the four zombie bosses in the demo. This won't work in multiplayer; this for single player only. However it's a preview of how the Versus mode will work in the full game where a team of human players go up against online opponents who control the boss zombies. The full game is due out on Nov. 18.

[Via Shacknews]

We have seen programs like Punkbuster designed to fight off cheating in online PC games but what about protecting your PC from issues while you are playing? There are a number of security programs on the market but Bullguard has just announced a new product that is designed specifically to keep your PC secure while playing games.

The Bullguard Gamer's Edition costs $49.99 for a year's subscription and according to their press release, the program not only is a full PC security program with anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall prorection it also allows people to set up game profiles that will have gamers to set up full protection while playing over 80 supported games (more will be added in the months ahead).

The press release claims that the Bullguard Gamer's Edition will allow messaging will be disabled while games are being played. Also, no updates to the program will be run while games are being played and it will take a minimal amount of PC resources to run. SteelSeries, the PC gaming keyboard and accessories company, has been "closely involved" in the development of the product.

If the original Command and Conquer timeline is a fairly standard sci-fi affair and C&C Generals is a more realistic near future storyline, then Electronic Arts' Red Alert franchise is all about comic book goofiness and fun. The alternate history where the Communist Soviet Union is still large and in charge and wild weapons are plentiful will get a revamp this fall with the release of C&C: Red Alert 3.

At E3 2008 we got a chance to go hands-on with a PC build of the game (it's also being released for the Xbox 360) where we got to play as the brand new Red Alert Japanese faction called the Empire of the Rising Sun. The visuals, while in 3D, remain in the style of the first two 2D Red Alert titles. They are colorful yet detailed and are actually quite fun to just look at.

If you want to play console games on a PC you could turn a console into a PC (such as in the above picture from Regal Hardware) Now, a once secret online marketing survey from a company called Intellisponse has been uncovered by the forum folks over at NeoGAF. Among the products supposedly revealed in this survey is something called "Trioxide". What is it? Well according to the leak it's a product that will allow PCs to play PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii game disks.

There's not much else on the forum post about this supposed product, saying only that the games will require the original console controllers to be played on the PC as well. That's pretty much it; no pricing, no word on who the company behind this reported project is nor a release date. Frankly, even if such a product actually existed (which we seriously doubt) we think Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony would do everything in their legal power to stop this product from ever reaching fruition. Stay tuned . . . (By the way, there is an arsenic trioxide that is used as a cancer medication)

We here at Big Download naturally assume you like free stuff. That's why we've got that enticing heap of files up there, batting its eyelashes seductively at you (or maybe I need to switch to decaf that isn't laced with wormwood). But, chances are, free (as in beer) stuff is lurking on or under your desk right this moment. No, not the cans with the five cent deposit. No, not that copy of Daikatana you forgot to take to the pawn shop, either.

Unless you're already at the bleeding edge, got exceedingly unlucky, or are highly risk-averse, there's extra performance to be had out of the components you've already got by running them faster than their rated, factory-set speed. This practice is known as overclocking, and has grown from a lunatic fringe cottage industry into big business, frequently with the tacit approval of component manufacturers, and occasionally engaged in by some brands themselves.

In a nutshell, overclocking allows you to get the performance of a more-expensive part -- CPU, video card, or RAM module -- out of a less-expensive one by the strategic application of brains, willpower, voltage, cooling, and luck.

The Techalicious blog has a potential fix for those of us (this blogger included) who suffer from simulation sickness, or 'Doom sickness' -- where playing an FPS for too long induces nausea. Apparently, wearing an acupressure wristband, that presses plastic beads against a pressure point on the wrist -- helps to immediately relieve the nausea.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, but it's worth trying. Other solutions include Dramamine, straight infusion of ginger, and not playing any more first-person shooters. Obviously, that last is not a serious option, so tell us: how do you get around the sickness?

Late on Monday a post on Slashdot reported that the source code for the space based MMO EVE Online had been leaked and passed out on the Internet via a BitTorrent site. The leak has apparently caused the game's developer CCP to go into damage control mode. Next Generation contacted CCP for comment and in an email the developer stated that the leak wasn't that big of a deal.

According to the statement, CCP says, "It's unfortunate that something so inaccurate and untrue has been grossly blown out of proportion." The game's web site also has a statement from the developer (the full message can only be read by EVE Online subscribers) that because of the way the game's server system is designed, the leak "is not a security risk to CCP or our customers in any way." CCP also admitted to removing forum posts that deals with violations of the game's EULA, stating, "We consider any alterations of the client software, including decompilation, or discussions thereof, to represent such a violation."