“It’s a very souped-up Playstation 3,” or at least that’s what David Turek, vice president of IBM’s supercomputing programs, said about his company’s newest baby, The Roadrunner. “We took the basic chip design [of a PS3] and advanced its capability,” said Turek, speaking about the computer’s use of a modified version of the PS3’s lauded “Cell” microprocessor.

Roadrunner is effectively twice as fast as IBM’s last record breaker, the Blue Gene.

Sadly, the Roadrunner won’t ever be used for the noble pursuit of gaming; instead, Roadrunner will be relegated to mundane tasks such as simulating nuclear explosions and mimicking the human brain. Yawn.

Read More »

Fans of last year’s post-apocalyptic shooter, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, may be able to return to the site of everyone’s favorite Russian power plant in the near future. Game designer GSC Game World hinted at the possibility late last year, sending fanboys everywhere running to their favorite forums to gush. Nothing much has been mentioned since, but the company has been busy working on the expansion to Shadow, Clear Sky.

Read More »

Nolan Bushnell hasn’t really been a household name as of late, but it might be again soon. And, no it’s not because he’ll be opening anymore Chuck E’ Cheeses. Leonardo DiCaprio, the dashing teen idol turned Oscar nominee is slated to portray the Atari founder in an upcoming biopic film by writers Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman titled, simply, Atari. Originally reported by insider publication, Variety, the film, which is being released by Paramount, will explore the life and times of our favorite father of Pong. In an interview with MTV’s Multiplayer blog Bushnell said he was thrilled to be played by the star of Titanic, and really who wouldn’t?
Read More »

Surprise! People LOVE World of Warcraft, and are more than happy to empty their bank accounts for the chance to keep that love alive. Also, there are some people who apparently still play Bejeweled. Either way, the NPD Group just released a report tracking the revenue earned from online subscriptions, and the numbers aren’t too shabby.

Read More »

So what are boys made of? Playstation 3s, apparently: so long as they’re at least 13. That’s according to a new survey by Habbo, an online community of creepy, virtual hotel rooms aimed at teenagers. Don’t ask.
Read More »

Japanese juggernaut Square Enix, known for their blockbuster Dragon Warrior series, and other less popular offerings (*cough* Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger) says it’s time for a change. Square Enix President Yoichi Wada told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit last week that his company is facing increased competition from non-Japanese game makers, and that *gasp* North America is now a viable market.

Read More »