GeekwithEnvy

PC

Ready for Windows Blue? It Could Be Here Very Soon

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Windows 8 Logo

The rumors continue as more talk about Windows Blue is popping up around the web. Sources say that Windows Blue is not going to be Windows 9 but rather a series improvements upon Windows 8. We could see a public preview of Microsoft’s latest software as early as a few months from now with Microsoft supposedly planning on a summer release of the overhaul.

Sources also say that Windows Blue will include Internet Explorer 11 and improved search functionality. The refresh may also include support for 7 and 8 inch mobile devices. This sounds like a good plan for Microsoft as I feel Windows 8 is still largely unpolished. Overall, my impression of Windows 8 is more positive as of late and I’m hoping that Windows Blue will address some my remaining issues. As we hear more about Windows Blue, we will keep you in the loop.

How To Play a DVD in Windows 8

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If you haven’t already noticed, you can’t play a DVD by default in Windows 8. Yep, sounds weird but it’s true. Fortunately, there’s a great application out there that gets the job done and then some.

VLC Media Player is the simple solution to this problem. If you haven’t used this great application yet then your missing out. It plays all kinds of formats, almost all of them, and best of all, it’s completely free! You can customize your player with skins, work with filtering effects, and it even has streaming support. This is a very robust little application and it’s worth downloading.

VLC Media Player is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux and you can get it at the official site, VideoLAN.org.

VLCSS

SimCity Launch A Complete Disaster

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SimCityMeteor

I can’t help but be amazed at the level of failure going on with with EA’s recent launch of SimCity. The game has been plagued with server issues that cause users to experience extremely long log-in times and even data loss. If you are able to get online, the game will usually end up freezing up or crashing all together.  The game has basically been unplayable since it’s launch, an issue that has caused Amazon to temporarily pull the game from it’s online stores.

Many people are using the launch failure as an opportunity to talk about how bad “online-only DRM” is and not to support it. I don’t really have an issue with online gaming and normally I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that an online game is having issues, it’s a difficult project to undertake, but EA is a veteran and they need to step up and make this work. I was initially pretty excited to hear about the SimCity Launch but this is a major disappointment.

EA has clearly recognized that they have messed up and are now offering up a free PC game download.

Here’s their statement.

The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.

And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCityplayers who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.

I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.

SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.

 

 

Possible Battlefield 4 Reveal

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Battlefield 3 SS
Battlefield 3

EA is creating a lot of buzz, some of it not so good, like the major issues plaguing the launch of SimCity. On the other hand EA seems to be getting ready to announce Battlefield 4 at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC).

Invitations were sent out asking to “Save the Date”, which was marked as March 26, 2013 – 7 PM. The invitations were recently sent to IGN. We currently no nothing about Battlefield 4 or if EA has anything else it would like to share but the timing feels right for the announcement.