BCCHardware - Your Daily Tech News & Reviews

This week was a big week for video game releases with Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 both hitting store shelves on Wednesday. Thanks to the hype behind both of these games one would assume that both Rockstar Games (Max Payne 3) and Activision/Blizzard (Diable 3) will be having a pretty good month saleswise.

Diablo 3:

First up we've got Diablo 3. This game has been eagerly anticipated by gamers for years and is finally here, unfortunately the night of the release Activision/Blizzard has some fun server offline issues which prevented gamers for accessing the game for hours, PCMag has the full story on the outage.

Aside from the issues on launch day, Wired takes a look at Diablo 3 and shares some of their first impressions:

It’s been just a little over a day since Blizzard performed one of the old rituals, releasing Diablo upon the world for the third time, and I’ve been doing my best to play all the hell out of it.

There’s a lot of hell in there, though. Wired will have a full review of Blizzard’s long-anticipated action role-playing game in due time, but first, here are some early thoughts about the experience I’ve had so far. Not all of them are positive.

Max Payne 3:

Max Payne 3 arrived with a little less fuss than Diablo 3, but the reviews are overall very positive. USA Today takes a look at the 3rd installment in the Max Payne series

Rockstar Games has resurrected hard-boiled video game hero Max Payne for a new noir adventure.

Some may only know the character from the big-screen version played by Mark Wahlberg in the forgettable 2008 film. But just a decade ago, Max was a well-regarded video game leading man.

The new game, Max Payne 3 (out now, $60 for PS 3, Xbox 360 and PCs, ages 17-up) restores the dark hero to his rightful status. The 2001 original computer game and 2003 sequel Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne also broke new ground for its "bullet time" feature that slowed down the action, allowing Max to take out multiple enemies while diving (à la Neo and Agent Smith in The Matrix).

PSXExtreme also takes a look at Max Payne 3

It’s brutal, unapologetic, visceral, and unsurprisingly addictive. Rockstar has managed to capture the very essence of Max Payne in the latest long-awaited installment, and it’s dark and a little depressing. But that’s exactly what the first two games were all about; Max Payne is a singular character, one you question and root for simultaneously. And at its core is a blend of ridiculous over-the-top action and a quality story that keeps you playing. Enjoy the Payne.

If you were lucky enough to pick up these games before they sold out please share you thoughts in the forums using the link below (if you can pry yourself away from either of these games long enough to type up your thoughts).

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As we keep on going through the news bucket today, we've got a couple of Media Players that are interesting to check out.  NikKTech has the Egreat S-Series R300 Network HD Media player on their bench as well as the Pivos Aios HD Media Center.  Take a look if you're considering a new box to play your files on your favorite TV.

Unfortunately there's no HDMI cable included in the bundle, however it comes with pretty much everything needed included the aios HD media center, RCA cables (A/V), quick start guide, user's guide, USB host cable, AC power adapter, two AAA batteries, two HDD mounting screws and the remote control.

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Google will be making this difficult for carriers (but awesome for us consumers) if the rumors are true.  It appears that Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) will launch on at least five different devices from different manufacturers.  They will be sold directly from Google and carry the Nexus brand.  Yes.  They will be factory and carrier unlocked.  More at the Wall Street Journal.

Google plans to give multiple mobile-device makers early access to new releases of Android and to sell those devices directly to consumers, said people familiar with the matter. That is a shift from Google's previous practice, when it joined with with only one hardware maker at a time to produce "lead devices."

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• MemoRight FTM Plus Slim 7mm 240GB SSD - TweakTown
• OWC Mercury Accelsior 480GB PCIe SSD - TheSSDReview 
• Zalman F1 Series 120GB SSD - HardwareLook 
• ADATA S510 120GB SSD - Vortez 
• RunCore Pro V MAX 240GB SSD - TweakTown 
• Corsair Force GT 180GB SATA III - HiTechLegion
• Plextor M3P 256GB SATA 3 SSD - TheSSDReview
  
• Toshiba Dynadock U3.0 Universal USB 3.0 Docking Station - TweakTown
  
• Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SATA3 SSD - FutureLooks 
• Intel 520 Series 480GB - Vortez 
• QNAP TurboNAS TS-259 Pro+ NAS - NikKTech 
• Intel 910 PCIe SSD - TheSSDReview 
• OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD - TweakTown --=-- TheSSDReview
  
• Akitio Taurus Mini Super-S LCM External RAID Storage - TechwareLabs
  
• Akitio MyCloud Duo NAS - TweakTown 
• LG BP40NS20 Portable 6x Blu-Ray Disc ReWriter - CDRLabs 
• SilverStone DS321 Dual- Bay HDD Enclosure - HardwareHeaven 
• Patriot Memory SuperSonic Boost 32GB USB3.0 Flash Drive - NikKTech
  
• Kingston SSDNow V+ 200 120GB SSD - TweakTown 
• Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home Network Storage - TheSSDReview 
• Data Memory Systems Celerity 6G Plus 120GB SSD - TweakTown 

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We have just taken a look at the NZXT Phantom 410 case.  This case is the second generation Phantom from NZXT and comes in with a smaller stance, a bit less room inside and a whole lot smaller price tag.  It still has a lot of great features and if you want a great case on a budget, check out all the details over here.

The NZXT Phantom 410 comes with everything you may need to build you rig. The addition of the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports are nice.  Needless to say the built-in fan controller was sweet and there is no need for spending more money on a separate fan controller.

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Episode #159 of Weekly Tech Update is now available on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace.  This is our weekly podcast that covers the hottest stuff in tech - not only around BCCHardware, but also the world.  Check it out over here - as well as a free download in the iTunes store and the Zune Marketplace.

In this episode we will be discussing Zynga has a bad idea, Facebook has a worse idea and Rovio hopes their idea isn’t bad.  We have those stories and more...

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I get the texting and driving thing.  It's not wise to operate a 3000lb automobile while you're not paying attention to where it is pointed.  I get it.  In New Jersey, one town has instituted texting and WALKING laws.  You can't do it.  People have almost ran into bears and actually fallen into fountains while texting and I call this good humor.  I text and walk.  If I crash into something - score one for whatever I walked into.  If I do it while crossing a street and get hit because I didn't do it at a crosswalk or when I wasn't supposed to - well, I guess the universe will have a more intelligent gene pool to draw from.

As with most other states, texting while driving is already banned in the state. But now, Fort Lee Police Chief Thomas Ripoli is also holding pedestrians accountable for their "dangerous walking," including texting-while-trekking -- if it leads to them ignoring crosswalks and lights.

Thanks to Tigger for pointing out this story.

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It seems that Kodak has been harboring a small nuclear reactor at Kodak Park and this little "nuclear research reactor" is very rare (and incredibly awesome).  It has been secure by all means, but it's interesting that this little detail just leaked - after 30 years.  Take a look at this article for more details.

All of this — construction of a bunker with two-foot-thick concrete walls, decades of research and esoteric quality control work with a neutron beam, the safeguarding and ultimate removal of one of the more feared substances on earth — was done pretty much without anyone in the Rochester community having a clue.

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Intel has been dominating the high-end CPU market lately, and their Ivy-bridge CPUs have taken a small step upward in terms of performance over Sandy Bridge CPUs.  The downside?  Ivy runs wicked hot and TechPowerUp has posted why.  Cheap Thermal Paste.  Really?  Come now Intel, surely the 18%-23% temperature drop by using good thermal paste would have been worth the extra money.

The change in TIM was also change the overclockability of the chip, which was then able to sustain higher core voltages to facilitate higher core clock speeds. The report concluded that Intel's decision to use thermal paste inside the IHS of its Ivy Bridge chips, instead of fluxless solder, poses a very real impact on temperatures and overclockability.

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