Jumping on this, Blizzard has offered to give discounts to anyone that purchased the digital version of Diablo III and can provide a GAME receipt to show the pre-order was made. If you paid the full price when you reserved the game, you’ll get a digital copy for free.

“We’re aware that some Australian GAME customers have been left out in the cold on what should be the hottest night of the year — the launch of Diablo III. To help with this situation and get these players into the game as soon as possible, we’ve put the following process in place,” said the Blizzard release.

It also posted instructions on how to obtain your discount:

“Australian GAME customers with a valid preorder/prepurchase receipt dated before May 15, 2012 can do the following:

1. Purchase the digital version of Diablo III from http://www.diablo3.com now or anytime before May 21, 2012.

2. Download and start playing when the servers go live!

3. Submit your GAME Australia preorder/prepurchase receipt to us before June 30, 2012.

4. Receive a credit from Blizzard”

Moves like this really cement companies as “good guys,” as Blizzard had no obligation to do this, but has ensured that its fans won’t be left ouf of pocket just because of their choice of retailer. It’ll be interesting if we ever learn how much Blizzard has been willing to lose to make to this geture.

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Introduction

The LOKI from Xigmatek is in for testing today, very similar to its bigger brother, the Gaia.

We’ve all heard of Xigmatek, they came out of know where in 2005 with HDT (Heatsink Direct Touch) technology that not only performed well, but was very well priced too.  The Loki seems to be very similar to what we first saw from Xigmatek so we’ll see if the performance stacks up!

Specifications

Dimension: 92(W)x50(H)x134(D) mm

Fan starting Voltage: ≥7V

Fanspeed: 1200-2800 R.P.M.

Fan bearing Type: Hypro Bearing

Air Flow: 52CFM (Max.)

Air Pressure: 3.7 mmH2O (Max.)

Fan life Expectance: 40,000 hrs

Noise Level: 20-28 dBA (Max.)

Connector: 4 Pin with PWM

Weight: 330g

Unboxing

The box is made of a high quality card, shiny and is well designed.

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The back of the box has most of the important specifications listed.

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The bundled items include: Instructions, Intel and AMD backplate, Intel and AMD mounting bars, eight rubber fan clips, 16 mounting nuts and screws and a sachet of thermal compound.

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“Due to the appointment of an administrator to our business this morning, it is with regret that I inform you all that our stores will not be receiving any stock of diablo 3 (sic)”, said a text message sent to those that pre-ordered the game. “Because of this, we regrettably will be unable to fulfill any pre-orders. Also, we will be unable to refund any deposits paid towards a pre-order of diablo 3. If you need any more info, please email customerrelations@game.com.au”

Unfortunately, beyond signing on as an unsecured creditor, there isn’t much you can do. It’s unlikely to get you anywhere even if you do though, since there are banks and big lendors looking to regain more than just a pre-order deposit from the GAME Group, and they are first in line.

“Initially we will continue to trade all stores, operating these on as close to a ‘business as usual’ mode as possible whilst we get a clearer understanding of the current state of the business and actively pursue options to secure its future,” PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesperson Kate Warwick stated.

“Prior to our appointment, the company’s management had been exploring interest in investing in the business with a number of parties and we will look to see whether this interest can be harnessed to continue the business or part of it through the voluntary administration process.”

While we might not see such an epic struggle for redemption in the Aussie branch of GAME as we did in the UK, that part of the business now enters the stage where it’s hoping for a buyer. It’s been said that some businesses have been courting GAME Australia for the past few weeks, but no information as to their identity has yet been revealed.

Source: Eurogamer

To celebrate this achievement, Valve has announced a weekend sale, bringing down the price of – of course – Portal 2 to just £5.09 for the next couple of days. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has also had a price cut, dropping to £23.44. Team Fortress 2′s Workshop items will also see their prices halved for the duration.

Portal 2 maps and test chambers can be downloaded and viewed in the Steam Workshop, where a rating system by fellow players will no doubt help you decide which to try first. The most popular at the moment are the series of 12 Angry Test maps, split into several parts. Each has a short story to accompany it, showing the extent some users have gone to, to perserve the single player experience of the original game.

Source: Eurogamer

Introduction

‘Silent’ is a word that is greatly over used in the PC industry. Power supplies, CPU coolers and video cards are all marketed as being silent, despite featuring fans or other moving parts. These products may well be quiet, but they are definitely not silent.

Chillblast’s Fusion Vacuum PC is different. It is 100% passively cooled in nature, has no moving parts whatsoever outside of the optical drive, and the manufacturer claims that it makes no sound whatsoever.

Despite this, the Vacuum is designed to be an uncompromising general purpose PC, with credible gaming abilities, plenty of expandability and great overall performance.

Specifications

Lian Li PC-A05FNB Aluminium Tool-less Chassis in Black
AMD A8 3870 CPU
Nofan CR-95C IcePipe 95W Fanless CPU Cooler
Asus F1A75 Motherboard
Sapphire HD6670 1GB Ultimate
8GB Corsair Memory (2 x 4GB)
Corsair Force 120GB Solid State Drive
Samsung B123L Blu ray  ROM/DVD-RW Combo drive
Silverstone ST40NF 400w Fanless PSU

Chillblast’s choice of a Llano AMD chip is an interesting one. These processors may lack the raw grunt of a Core i5 or Core i7 CPU, but the integrated video solution is far more powerful. It also means that, despite being passively cooled, the Vacuum can actually be marketed as a Crossfire gaming rig.

Known as Legend of the Beast, the new downloadable content sees Sam taking on the ram god known as The Great Obelisk. This will take place over three new campaign levels. In terms of multiplayer, gamers can experience three new survival maps and three new versus modes.

Lots of threes.

If you’re interested in picking up this DLC, it’ll cost just $4.99. This is a nice respectable prices for DLC, considering in essence it’s just a map pack. It would be quite easy to point a dirty finger at some developers for their DLC pricing.

The developer behind the series of Serious games, Croteam, has also announced that the HD remake of Serious Sam the First Encounter, will have its multiplayer component made free to play. This will allow players to jump in and begin blasting each other, or work together in survival mode to fight off the alien hordes. This will be available as of the 15th May.

Describing the early days of the game as a true event, something that non-gamers could be interested in, EA’s Label boss Frank Gibeau said that now, “as the service evolves from here, what we’re seeing is that some of the initial casual customers have gone through a billing cycle and decided not to subscribe to the game.”

He countered this however by saying that despite the casual players fleeing the title, the hardcore MMO players have remained. He believes the current crop of 1.3 million players is likely to stay dedicated for some time.

EA’s top dog John Riccitello said that while the game wasn’t in the top five earners for the company, it was in the top ten. “So it’s a business contributor, while important, is not as important as Medal of Honor or Battlefield or FIFA or Madden or The Sims or SimCity, but it’s more important than Tiger Woods PGA Golf.”

“So while I understand there’s an enormous amount of interest, I don’t know that it warrants as much as what we’re seeing right now. But we love the franchise, we’re going to grow the franchise and just like we want to see Tiger Woods Golf grow or SSX grow, or Madden for that matter, we’re going to drive this one for growth,” he continued.

The guys at Fusible spotted the initial WhoIs listing that showed the domain avengersbattleforearth.com through brand protection firm Mark Monitor. The name was registered by Marvel Characters Inc. and is listed on Ubisoft’s Nameservers, so the link with the publisher and developer is clear.

What isn’t clear is when this game will be released, why it wasn’t debuted alongside the movie in the US or EU as it’s clearly very popular and going to do incredibly well financially – and this is the usual method of promoting a game based on a movie property.  It needs to be done too then too, as movie tie-in games usually stink.

If I was a cynical man, I’d bet that the game sees you taking on the role of each of the avengers, fighting very, very generic mutant robot enemies from the movie, fighting a boss and then finishing the level. Upon completion, you switch characters and do the same thing. There will be some awful driving and flying stages that will control terribly and there will be basically no writing beyond repackaging a few elements from the movie.

But hey I could be wrong. This could be a great game. Right?

Introduction

The Gaia from Xigmatek is in for testing today, we’ve all heard of Xigmatek, they came out of know where in 2005 with HDT (Heatsink Direct Touch) technology that not only performed well, but was very well priced too.  The Gaia seems to be very similar to what we first saw from Xigmatek so we’ll see if the performance stacks up!

Specifications

Dimension: 120(W) x 50(D) x 159(H) mm

Fan starting Voltage: ≥9V

Fanspeed: 800~1500 R.P.M.

Fan bearing Type: Hypro Bearing

Air Flow: 56.3CFM (Max.)

Air Pressure: 1.57 mmH2O (Max.)

Fan life Expectance: 40,000 hrs

Noise Level: 16-24 dBA (Max.)

Connector: 4 Pin with PWM

Weight: 460g

Unboxing

The box is made of a high quality card, shiny and is well designed.

Click to Enlarge

The back of the box has the most of the important specifications listed.

Click to Enlarge

The bundled items include: Instructions, Intel and AMD backplate, Intel and AMD mounting bars, eight rubber fan clips, sixteen mounting nuts and screws and a sachet of thermal compound.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Mounting system

The mounting system of a cooler is an important part as without good contact between the base of the cooler and CPU heatspreader, you won’t get good CPU temperatures and could even damage your CPU.

The mounting system that comes with this cooler is excellent, it is clear that Xigmatek has taken time over refining and perfecting the system, I found it very easy to mount the cooler, fitting the fan after attaching the heatsink was fairly easy too. Intel socket 2011 mounts are provided too which is also good to see.

The provided thermal paste isn’t the highest quality in the world, in my testing the thermal paste did its job just fine but it would be nice if Xigmatek included some higher quality thermal paste.

Taking place 1000 years before the events of Skyrim, prince Molag Bal is attempting to incorporate Tamriel into his realm. However, Mythic isn’t the driving force behind the title, but fledgling developer Zenimax Online Studios. There are some former Mythic staffers there, including the head of the studio, but fans of the series might be worried that a first time developer is going to be handling the next title in a series they’ve loved for years.

Three factions are said to be at loggerheads in this title, giving players the change to fight over control of Cyrodiil and the Emperor’s throne. How that will work out, or how combat will be handled at all is still up in the air at the moment. However expect traditional RPG themes with the usual social gaming aspect of MMOs.

“It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years,” said head of Zenimax, Matt Firor.

“The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.”

In the mean time, those wanting more of an Elder Scrolls fix can look forward to the new Skyrim DLC set to release this summer: Dawnguard. Rumoured to be included are a new race of snow elves and crossbows as usable weaponry.

Source: Eurogamer