Dell XPS 18

A step in the right direction.

If you recall from our first Dell XPS 18 review in the August 2013 issue, we were surprised by how much we liked the 18-inch AIO/tablet hybrid. As much as we enthused, however, there were a few issues that kept us from recommending it outright. Haswell was right around the corner, which would have offered better CPU, GPU, and battery performance over its then aging Ivy Bridge processor. We also didn’t like that it only had a paltry 32GB caching drive. With the XPS 18 Mark II, Dell is attempting to address those issues.

DriveClub

Membership benefits.

Every console needs a killer game or two, titles that redefine the way things are done. Because gaming is so broad, these are genre specific attempts at capturing hearts and minds, and the racing genre is hotly contested. The Xbox, for example, has Forza, which has become something of an unassailable fortress for Microsoft console car gaming. The PS3 had the Gran Turismo series which, despite a wobbly later run, still managed to captivate audiences. For the PS4… well, that space still needs to be filled, really, and it seems that it was the main aim of DriveClub to do just that. But definitive racers need to offer a whole array of positives, including a realistic driving model and, unfortunately, DriveClub doesn’t really deliver in all the areas that it should.

The Evil Within

Get ready for punishment…

Horror is not an easy genre to get right, Whether it be in the format of books or films, scaring the crap out of the audience is a lot tougher than you might think. It is, arguably, easier to do with video games, because the player is so much more involved with the activity, actually providing feedback rather than just receiving information intended to get their heart pounding.

Pay Your e-Troll

The dues of internet usage…

Working in the digital and social media space, everyone in this industry eventually comes across the little understood creature called the troll. Unlike the mythological beast that appears in Terry Pratchett and Harry Potter novels (or in your favourite role playing game), the internet troll is a very real, and very nasty creature. In the books and movies, trolls stick to the dark and dank recesses of the fantasy world to prey on unsuspecting travellers or wayward children, but the internet troll is far more bold and far, far more wicked. Unlike their mythical counterpart, the internet troll uses the anonymity of cyberspace to venture boldly into the public eye, and thrives on the reactions, misery and discord they can sow amongst unsuspecting online communities, rather than simply boiling their bones for meals.

XBMC On Your HDTV

If Valve’s Steam Machines delay has you feeling down in the dumps about HDTV-based PC gaming, we‘d like to take this opportunity to remind you that alternatives abound. As much as we love the developer for its contributions to PC gaming, the Steam Machine’s core concept — putting a PC in the living room — isn’t terribly novel. Enthusiasts have been connecting PCs to TVs and playing games on them since graphics cards first started shipping with S-Video outputs. Thankfully, in the high-def era, doing so has gotten significantly prettier (and more practical).