That little screenshot up there are some of the stats of my computer. At this time, with it’s GTX 560 Ti graphics card, I can play most, if not all games on the maximum or near-maximum settings. And, mind you, this computer is a good 3 years old, with only a few tweaks here and there to it. So, despite the fact that we live in a world with i5’s, and i7’s, featuring upwards of 8 cores in a chip, why is it that the minimum requirements for a game like Diablo III only require an old Pentium 4 2.8 GHz chip, and 1 gig of RAM? Mass Effect 3, which came out earlier this year, hardly requires any more power out of your system compared to Mass Effect 2, even though ME2 came out over 2 years ago. And, if you look at “Moore’s Law”, (which isn’t really a “law” and more of a rule of thumb, but that’s a different story), it says that the number of transistors that can be placed cheaply on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years. In computer terms, that means that the average, inexpensive computer built will be roughly twice as powerful every 2 years, and so far, the average computer itself does seem to be following this path. So, why is it that ME3’s requirements are roughly on par with a game that came out 2 years earlier? Why does Diablo III only require a Pentium 4, a chip that came out well over 6 years ago? Is this reflective of a larger trend?

Using the website Game Debate, I decided to find out. For the purposed of the research, I took five different mainstream games from each year between 2005 and 2011 and tried to come up with a rough baseline requirement for the year as a whole. I also tried to include sequels, in order to get a rough estimate of how much the requirements have gone up for a similar game. However, for the most part, I avoided expansion packs, as they are usually tied in to a game that can be much older, and thus bring down the hardware requirements.

In 2005 and 2006, which were the first years that we saw the current generation of consoles, the requirements as a whole were on the low side. Minimum requirements were listing Pentium 3 processors, 256 MB’s of RAM, and GeForce 2 MK 400’s. The recommended specs had Pentium 4’s running at nearly twice the speed as the Pentium 3’s, 512 MB’s of RAM, and GeForce 6600’s and higher.

Starting in 2007, however, we see a huge jump in requirements. Pentium 4’s running at 2.4 GHz and higher started to become listed as the minimum requirements to run a game, while Core 2 Duos were starting to show up in the recommended specs list. A year earlier, if you had 512 MB’s of RAM, you’d be set to play a game on some of its best settings. Once 2007 hit, though, you wouldn’t even be likely to make the minimum requirements, as they jumped up to 1 GB, and the recommended amount went up to 2 GB’s. Graphics cards in this time also saw a jump, as the GeForce 6800 GT you were using in 2006 to run your game with the best graphics was all of a suddenly finding it difficult to run a game on the lower quality settings. Instead, you were looking at having to buy a new higher level 7000 or 8000 GeForce card to run those games at the best settings.

So what prompted this sudden increase? Well, remember that the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 both came out in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The previous generation, the PS2 and the Xbox, had come out in 2000 and 2001, and it’s my theory that developers were developing games in ’05 and ’06 under the assumption that at some point they may want to port those games to the console. However, once the PS3 and Xbox 360 were released, and the developers started to develop new games after receiving development kits, they had room to jump up the specs for their computers. Add in a resource hog OS like Windows Vista, and the development of the Dual Core CPU, and it’s no wonder that we saw a spike in requirements.

After 2007, another trend emerged. The requirements for games started to level out a bit. There hasn’t been a big jump in requirements for games since that time, but rather, it’s become more gradual. In 2008, more Core 2 Duos were making up the recommended CPU line, but the RAM and GPU lines stayed about the same. In 2009 there was not much change, despite the fact that it had been 2 years since the last big jump.

When 2010 hit, you could see that the requirements were trending upwards, but not that much. The only main difference this time was that you started to see low end Core 2 Duos make up the minimum requirements line, and you started seeing Core 2 Quads in the recommended line. RAM stayed around the same at 1 GB for minimum and 2 GB for recommended, and amazingly, they still had GeForce 6800’s as the minimum requirement, despite the fact that you could see those cards in stat lines over 5 years earlier.

In 2011, only at this point do you see any sort of growth in the requirements in general. The minimum levels of RAM started to average out at 2 GBs, with the recommended levels going at around 4 GBs. The CPU levels are still remaining about the same, and even though you don’t see the GeForce 6800s listed anymore, you can still find GeForce 8800s being listed under the recommended cards, despite the fact that those same cards in 2008.

With all the games being developed to include PC’s and consoles as their platforms, it’s not surprising to me to see that the overall requirements of games have not gone up very high for over 5 years. In fact, it seems to me that the reason why requirements have gone up at all has to do with developers being able to fully exploit what the consoles are capable of. So, with that in mind, I am going to make a prediction. Whenever the next big consoles come out, where the developers will have new platforms to work with, look to see a huge jump in the requirements for games. You’ll start to see Core 2 Quads under the minimum requirements, when just a year earlier that same chip was well over the recommended level. The i5 chips will start to become commonplace in the recommended CPU slot. We’ve seen this jump before, as developers stopped developing on the limited hardware of the PS2 and Xbox, and started developing for the relatively unlimited PS3 and Xbox 360. Now, at this point in time, those consoles with their 6 and 7 year old hardware are what’s limiting developers from going hog-wild with what they can do in a game. Once that limit has been eliminated (comparatively speaking), don’t be surprised to see the developers take advantage of it.

Start saving your money, because that high end computer you’ve had for a few years isn’t going to do you much good once those new consoles are out. I know I’m saving mine.

It’s been a work-in-progress for five years, but Bit of War is finally here for the masses to play. The game is a de-made version of the God of War series on the PlayStation 2 and PS3, and it’s available now for the PC. You can now send Kratos through an 8-bit world of carnage – and do it for free.

The game was created by Holmade Games, and work on it started back in 2007. The developers at the company decided to make it their “New Year’s resolution to put everything else aside and give it the love it deserved and complete it.” It’s great they did, because the game looks sweet.

You can check out the game at work in the video below, which is its first trailer. Then you can head over to the game’s official website and download it for the price of zero buckaroos. If this hasn’t made your Monday then you need to go back to bed.

Sony Online Entertainment recently announced that they will be shutting down the servers for 4 of their MMO games on March 29th, 2012. Those games are Cosmic Rift, Infantry, Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga, and EverQuest Online Adventures.

The remaining players of EverQuest Online Adventures won’t be left completely in the dust. SOE announced that they will be giving those players 3 free months of Gold Membership in both EverQuest and EverQuest II. Those memberships will be available on March 16th.

It’s always a little sad when you hear of MMO titles being discontinued, but these things happen. Star Wars Galaxies, another SOE title, was shut down last year after due to an ever-dwindling fan base, and also to the fact that The Old Republic was about to be launched. But, for a nine year old game that required a hardware add-on that doesn’t even work on the PS2 Slim, I’d say that EverQuest Online Adventures had a pretty good run.

One of the first games I fell deep into back in my PlayStation days was Metal Gear Solid. I hadn’t played the Metal Gear title for the SNES, but I still found myself being sucked into the game’s immersing storyline. The game originally debuted back in 1998, and it kept me on my toes for quite a long time. There were just so many different twists and ways to go about objectives, which made it a truly engaging game. This is why it’s no surprise that gamers who have gotten to play the game all scream for a remake.

Hideo Kojima, the game’s creator, finally took some time to elaborate on his feelings toward creating a remake of this iconic title. When speaking to the Official Playstation Magazine, this is what he had to say about remembering the game that started his PlayStation career:

“It was a very pure experience. I was just making the game I wanted to make. Looking back, there’s not anything in particular I want to go back and fix. If you change anything, you change the game – and I want to avoid that. If you bring the gameplay up to modern standards, then you lose a bit of the original game. It was a game made for a certain era – not just the story, but the controls and everything about it reflect that era in which the game was made.

There are a lot of people wanting remakes of the original, and as producer I want to answer those calls. But as a creator I’m not very interested in going back. If we were to do it, it would have to be a total remake – the only thing that would be the same would be the story. If it happened at some point I would stay as a producer, but would have to hand off most of the actual creating.”

If you remember, Kojima had an interview a while back with the magazine where he spoke about the coming of a Metal Gear Solid 5. He made mention then that he wouldn’t have a large role in the game like with the first, and here he details that a bit more. While I am fond of an HD remake of the original Metal Gear Solid, I am really attached to the game in its old ways. I mean, a newer version would certainly look cool, but I don’t think it would be the same.

If you weren’t excited enough over the Duke Nukem Forever DLC that arrived the other day, then take a look at all of the holiday deals PSN has going on. You can stuff stockings with digital cheer!

Through this promotional ordeal, you can get your mitts on some pretty spiffy game bundles and all sorts of goodies from the top of the PSN performers for a discounted price. The full list of deals is available on the PlayStation Blog, but the video below will give you a snippet of what’s there.

For those of you PlayStation Plus subscribers out there, Marvel pinball is available to play for free. Not to mention a KOF XIII that you can download. The closer it gets to the holidays, the more deals seem to pop up, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you’re a fan of zombies and video game mashups then you’re in luck. ForgeHub user Cryptic Sin took his love for Resident Evil and merged it with his passion for Halo. The result? A fully recreated Forge version of the Spencer Mansion from the original Resident Evil game.

It took Sin almost a year to complete this magnificent creation, using the Forge world in Halo: Reach to bring his creation to life. It was no easy task, however, considering he could only use the building blocks offered to him in the futuristic world. The recreation is almost perfect, using the mansion from the Gamecube remake of the first Resident Evil game.

You can see a full walkthrough of the map in the video below. Not only is there a brand new map, but Cryptic Sin also took it upon himself to make special game modes specifically for his creative map. You can find links to these game modes on the Youtube channel for the video. After seeing this new map, what do you think?

Back in 2009, Amazon decided to start selling PSN codes directly. For whatever reason they may have, they came to the decision that this was not a great idea, and have since yanked that ability. Only a blank page exists there now. Amazon told PSNStores:

“We have no announcements regarding this change in selection, however we can confirm that Amazon Digital Video Game Downloads is not currently offering Playstation Network online game codes and points cards.”

Neither Sony or Amazon have really given us much information as to why, and it may not even be permanent, but no one really knows at this point. Oh well, guess we’ll just have to buy our PSN point cards and game codes from somewhere else.

A lot of us gamers out there love the occasional racing game. Whether it be Gran Turismo or Need For Speed, the love for the rubber on the asphalt is all the same. Sure, we enjoy sitting back on the couch with a controller, or possibly playing with a racing wheel, but what if we could actually own the racing experience? That’s what the team at Playseat has had in mind since they formed.

For those of you who don’t know, Playseat is a company that specializes in chairs – video gaming chairs to be exact. What you see pictured above is the Evolution Alacantara Racing Chair, which is compatible with all racing titles for the PS2, PS3, Wii, PC, and Xbox 360. All that’s required is for players to put together their favorite racing wheel and pedal set on the chair, and then it’s all a green light from there.

The racing seats offered by Playseat are completely foldable for easy storing, come in a variety of colors, and range from $350 to $475. For something that is this easily compatible with tons of different technologies, the price is set pretty well. Now while these racing chairs are cool, don’t get it in your mind that they are the only type offerd by the company. Playseat also specializes in flight chairs, and even office chairs that are fully customizable. Take some time to check out Playseat’s Official Website for more information on their products, and pick one up for yourself.

A few days ago, PlayStation announced the release date for Ratchet &Clank: All 4 One, and showed the official box art. They still may be on the crap list for all of their mess-ups here lately, but at least they’re going to put out another Ratchet & Clank.

This release is undoubtedly just precursor steps for E3 and trying to get people wanting to talk to them again. But! At least the game looks like it will be fun, and you can turn things into sheep. If sheep aren’t your style, you can always get a T-Rex morph weapon mod to take a more prehistoric route to things. There’s also going to be a pre order weapon that is a Kerchu-engineered flamethrower.

It appears that Mr. Zurkon will also be appearing with some good ole-fashioned taunting with his comedy-insult logic processor. Honestly I am most excited about turning everything I see into sheep. They look like they couldn’t care less that they exist, and look so cute and fluffy.

It looks like our rumor from the other day was correct. Yesterday’s big announcement from Sony was indeed to drop the price of the 9-year-old PS2. Starting today you’ll be able to pick up a slim for just $99. Could it all just be an April Fool’s gag by Sony? I guess, but I really can’t think of a more lame joke.

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