Hacks

If the original Command and Conquer timeline is a fairly standard sci-fi affair and C&C Generals is a more realistic near future storyline, then Electronic Arts' Red Alert franchise is all about comic book goofiness and fun. The alternate history where the Communist Soviet Union is still large and in charge and wild weapons are plentiful will get a revamp this fall with the release of C&C: Red Alert 3.

At E3 2008 we got a chance to go hands-on with a PC build of the game (it's also being released for the Xbox 360) where we got to play as the brand new Red Alert Japanese faction called the Empire of the Rising Sun. The visuals, while in 3D, remain in the style of the first two 2D Red Alert titles. They are colorful yet detailed and are actually quite fun to just look at.

If you want to play console games on a PC you could turn a console into a PC (such as in the above picture from Regal Hardware) Now, a once secret online marketing survey from a company called Intellisponse has been uncovered by the forum folks over at NeoGAF. Among the products supposedly revealed in this survey is something called "Trioxide". What is it? Well according to the leak it's a product that will allow PCs to play PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii game disks.

There's not much else on the forum post about this supposed product, saying only that the games will require the original console controllers to be played on the PC as well. That's pretty much it; no pricing, no word on who the company behind this reported project is nor a release date. Frankly, even if such a product actually existed (which we seriously doubt) we think Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony would do everything in their legal power to stop this product from ever reaching fruition. Stay tuned . . . (By the way, there is an arsenic trioxide that is used as a cancer medication)

We here at Big Download naturally assume you like free stuff. That's why we've got that enticing heap of files up there, batting its eyelashes seductively at you (or maybe I need to switch to decaf that isn't laced with wormwood). But, chances are, free (as in beer) stuff is lurking on or under your desk right this moment. No, not the cans with the five cent deposit. No, not that copy of Daikatana you forgot to take to the pawn shop, either.

Unless you're already at the bleeding edge, got exceedingly unlucky, or are highly risk-averse, there's extra performance to be had out of the components you've already got by running them faster than their rated, factory-set speed. This practice is known as overclocking, and has grown from a lunatic fringe cottage industry into big business, frequently with the tacit approval of component manufacturers, and occasionally engaged in by some brands themselves.

In a nutshell, overclocking allows you to get the performance of a more-expensive part -- CPU, video card, or RAM module -- out of a less-expensive one by the strategic application of brains, willpower, voltage, cooling, and luck.

The Techalicious blog has a potential fix for those of us (this blogger included) who suffer from simulation sickness, or 'Doom sickness' -- where playing an FPS for too long induces nausea. Apparently, wearing an acupressure wristband, that presses plastic beads against a pressure point on the wrist -- helps to immediately relieve the nausea.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, but it's worth trying. Other solutions include Dramamine, straight infusion of ginger, and not playing any more first-person shooters. Obviously, that last is not a serious option, so tell us: how do you get around the sickness?

Late on Monday a post on Slashdot reported that the source code for the space based MMO EVE Online had been leaked and passed out on the Internet via a BitTorrent site. The leak has apparently caused the game's developer CCP to go into damage control mode. Next Generation contacted CCP for comment and in an email the developer stated that the leak wasn't that big of a deal.

According to the statement, CCP says, "It's unfortunate that something so inaccurate and untrue has been grossly blown out of proportion." The game's web site also has a statement from the developer (the full message can only be read by EVE Online subscribers) that because of the way the game's server system is designed, the leak "is not a security risk to CCP or our customers in any way." CCP also admitted to removing forum posts that deals with violations of the game's EULA, stating, "We consider any alterations of the client software, including decompilation, or discussions thereof, to represent such a violation."