No, silly. That’s not happening in this lifetime.

I joke all the time about Crysis running on a cell phone, but the guys at TechCrunch have managed to do so- or at least make it look like its so. Rather than running Crysis right through the phone, TechCrunch ran the game on a PC then streamed it to OTOY, a mobile streaming server, which then redirected it to the Omnia. Pretty cool, I think.

While the guy demoing the software in the video is controlling the game with an Xbox 360 controller, the controller’s actually connceted to the PC. Don’t get any ideas about Crysis coming to consoles, now.

But it’s gonna happen eventually.

Late last year, Free Radical Design fell into administration, thanks to the wonderful recession gracing our fair world. Well, good news has arrived- Crytek have bought up the company and saved 43 jobs. Free radical is the developer of the fantastic Timesplitters series (and unfortunately the forgettable Haze), and Crytek is behind big-name games Far Cry and Crysis.

This is good news for everyone- Crysis get some great new developers on its team, and Free Radical employees get to keep their jobs. Plus, we might get to play Timesplitters 4 after all. I can only offer my condolences for the employees that weren’t able to keep their jobs- with any luck they’ll be picked back up in the long run.

It’s Spore. Were you surprised, really? All that DRM nonsense, all those lackluster reviews, all those pirates urging folks to fight the power by pirating this game. Rounding out the list of the year’s most stolen are Assassin’s Creed, The Sims 2, Crysis (still? come on guys), and more. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at number seven? That seems random.

When it comes down to it, though, it’s a damn shame that what a lot of us will remember Spore for is for being downloaded hella much. Then again, there are people who will say that EA deserved every dollar they didn’t get for this game. What’s your guys’ take? Does Spore deserve the decidedly undesirable title of “most pirated game of the year”?

Source: Torrent Freak

After the disappointing sales of PC-exclusive FPS Crysis, Crytek president Cevat Yerli has said that his company will no longer make titles exclusive to the PC platform. The main reason? Piracy.

“I believe that’s the core problem of PC Gaming, piracy,” Yerli explained. “It was a big lesson for us and I believe we wont have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future. We are going to support PC, but not exclusive anymore.”

Yerli also commented on the possibility of bringing the visually impressive Crysis to either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, saying that it would be nearly impossible. “Crysis would have to be largely changed to bring it to Xbox 360 or Playstation 3,” Yerli said. “Crysis is designed to be PC exclusive.”

Since Crysis was designed to be a trilogy, and Yerli has said that future games will be coming to consoles, you have to wonder what the future of the franchise will look like. If the first game can’t run on current-generation consoles, does that mean that later games will take a step backward in terms of graphical fidelity? Or will their be significant differences between the PC and console versions of the games?

Source: PC Play

It almost sounds too good to be true. Almost? It is too good to be true. Could Cry Engine 2 on consoles really look any where near as good as Crysis on the PC? Crytek’s Engine Business Manager, Harald Seeley, states that they expect the console versions to “look like they’re running at high settings, or nearly high settings, on a PC.” *Shock.*

When asked what differences there would be between the PC and console versions of the Cry Engine 2, and whether the engine will be tailored to each platform, Seeley replies:

Yes, we definitely tailor the engine specifically to each platform. More than just the difference in CPU and video hardware capabilities of PCs and consoles is at play here. So are the much smaller memory budgets we must work with, the lack of a hard disk on some models, and the acceptance requirements of the hardware vendors themselves. All have an effect on how we approach each version of the engine.

The surprising thing has been how well the consoles can perform visually, once this tailoring is in place. We expect the final outcome will result in games that look like they’re running at high settings, or nearly high settings, on a PC. Actually, we found it as much or more challenging to address the memory limitations of the consoles when converting our current AI system, as we did while converting our rendering engine or physics system, which was not something you might have expected at the start.

As to the differences between Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 development, and the possibility of a Wii engine, Seeley states:

Well there is no doubt that porting our engine to the PlayStation 3 is the more challenging of our two ongoing conversion projects, but that works to our advantage in the end. We feel certain we have the ability to get the most that is possible out of that platform, and therefore PS3 games which run on our engine in the future will definitely stand significantly apart from other games that don’t.

We haven’t seen a great deal of demand for third party engines for the Wii, the limited complexity of games which can be developed for that console also limits the need for the kind of sophisticated tools and middleware which we are known for. So I doubt we will be providing any engine technology for that console in the near term.

Poor Wii, but bring out the parade for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3! For the rest of the interview, please visit IGN.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been noticing quite a few themes that have been making their way through the industry. Throughout last week at GDC, many of these took center stage in a variety of forms. Today, we examine the state of PC Gaming.

Every year a multitude of publications come out proclaiming “PC gaming is dead! All units bail out!” It’s all getting to be a little ridiculous.

Now, let’s not be naive. PC gaming as we know it is in hot water and is very analogous to an arms race. Who’s going to be the first with a water-cooled, overclocked, dual-quad-SLi rig that can run Crysis at an insane resolution with every setting jacked to the point of no return? This is the disarray that Cliff Blizenski was speaking of when talking to Stephen Totilo of the MTV Multiplayer blog.

Arguably the biggest factor of the “disarray” that the PC is facing is piracy, which inadvertently causes more and more former big-time PC exclusive titles to make their way to consoles.

Go back two years, and I ‘m fairly certain that you’d be hard-pressed to find a hardcore PC gamer that wouldn’t scoff at the mere idea of Unreal Tournament or Command & Conquer making their way to a console.

This is the very reason that World of Warcraft and every Sims 2 expansion on the face of this earth has managed to stay at the top of the charts. Those are the games that are scaled back to the point that they will run on any computer released within the past 6 years, give or take a few.

The recent release of SteamWorks further solidifies Valve’s dedication to the PC as a viable platform and marks a milestone in PC gaming. SteamWorks consists of a wide variety of development tools that may be useful to developers of all sizes.

Fast-forward a few weeks and we’ll see Microsoft and Havok following suit. Microsoft unvieled the DreamSpark intiative, which makes a suite of Microsoft tools available for students. Not long after, Havok announced that they will be releasing Havok Complete, their solution to physics and animation in May 2008.

The big bullet point is that all of these companies have (or are in the process of) releasing these tools for free, effectively making it available and possible for anyone and everyone to make a game should they have the patience, drive, and dedication.

Through 2008, we may see PC gaming evolve into something we don’t recognize – and some of us may not like it.

For example, take Battlefield: Heroes. Although it’s very much an off-shoot of the Battlefield series as we know it, it makes a statement about the position that the PC market is in right now. For those that may not know, Battlefield: Heroes is a free-to-play online multiplayer FPS that will launch this summer.

The free-to-play model will work on two fronts, with advertising that EA is claiming wil be non-intrusive, along with content that may be paid for (nature of said content has yet to be revealed) that won’t severely cripple gamers that are playing for free.

The outcome of this ‘experiment’ may be indicative of the way that the PC gaming market will go in the forseeable future.

Thank the lord for creative and entertaining videos like this because they very well may be the only way I’ll be seeing the Crysis game in action for quite some time. My PC would explode if I walked into the room with this game. Anyway, enjoy the very wet musical number after the jump.

Source: Gametrailers

Here sharky sharky…What better way to stop players from going out of bounds and meeting game walls than getting them eaten by a shark. Crysis takes an engaging game world a step further with impressive animation and A.I.

Perhaps Crysis doesn’t even have game walls, instead being an endless labyrinth of possibilities where you can play with Sharky the friendly shark (but not too friendly).

1. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Activision – $48
2. World Of Warcraft – Vivendi – $20
3. The Sims 2 Deluxe – Electronic Arts – $33
4. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest – Vivendi – $35
5. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack – Vivendi – $30
6. The Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff Expansion Pack – Electronic Arts – $19
7. The Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion Pack – Electronic Arts – $30
8. Crysis – Electronic Arts – $50
9. The Orange Box – Electronic Arts – $50
10. The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack – Electronic Arts – $30

Source: VooDoo Extreme

Yup, the StreamMyGames server is free. The server works by remotely converting the game’s video and audio into a Game Stream and sending it over your LAN network to a second computer, laptop, or Linux enabled PS3. PC games can be played on the console/second computer without any lag or having to install the game on this machine. Crysis and PS3 unite!

Richard Faria, CEO of StreamMyGame talks of the service’s advantages:

Playing the latest PC game on the PS3 is now a reality at HD resolution and fast frame-rates. I have a PS3 in my living room and PC in my office and my two kids both have old PCs in their bedrooms.

Now we can play games anywhere around the home. StreamMyGame’s technology networks the power of a main PC so it can be used to play high end games on other PCs, PS3s and Linux devices.

What’s the catch? Well there’s two. Currently this streaming only works over an LAN network, but the service is set to expand to broadband in March this year. This means you’ll be able to stream games further than your living room, to anywhere in the world even.

The second catch is that only the basic version is free, which is stuck at streaming a 640×480 video output. For HD you’ll have to subscribe to a years membership for $9.99, or $19.99 for the premium service, which doesn’t appear to have any observable advantages.

In the below video you can see Crysis being streamed to a PS3. Most would question why the guy doesn’t just get a long lead to plug his PC into his HDTV. However, those people would lack foresight! Your PC might be upstairs, and your HDTV downstairs!

Seriously though, this is reminiscent of PSP streaming from the PS3, and so begs the question; Could we be playing Crysis on our PSP, on the train to work? Streaming from your PC to your PS3 and then to your PSP doesn’t sound outlandish. Sony will most likely be the ones to stop us in our tracks, and the lag might be unbearable, but it’s worth dreaming isn’t it?

You can learn more about StreamMyGame here and even register for the free software.

Via Beyond3d

Barrels (or Barrelz as they should be known in the gaming world) are the staple of video games, perhaps even the cliché of video games. Their ability to blow up when shot at has been exploited in video games from the dawn of time, right up to their unlikely implementation in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Crysis, however, does it better. They leak fuel when shot at, but even better than that, you can have a ball with 3000 of them, as shown in this video of the gloriousness of modern game physics.

Note: This footage is not necessarily what you can achieve with Crysis on your PC, or any PC (for the next 10 years).We know the barrels in the above picture are not fuel barrels, but beer barrels. We don’t care.

Have you had enough of First Person Shooters? It was such a dominant genre this year that it seemed to define what it meant to be “next-gen.” We’re not quite out of the woods yet, but 2008 promises to bring us a more diverse line-up. What games or concepts will characterize the industry as we move into the second generation proper?

It wasn’t that long ago when I considered writing an editorial complaining about the lack of variety in games this generation. Some developers will always be making software outside the norm, so it would’ve been by no means absolute if I’d said “can’t you guys come up with anything else?!”

Let’s face it, First Person Shooters get a lot of attention in a lot of different ways and few games have been fawned over as much lately as HALO 3, Orange Box (Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2), Crysis, or Call of Duty 4. Then there’s Unreal Tournament III, Resistance, Timeshift, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Hellgate: London, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Red Steel, Shadowrun, Soldier of Fortune Payback, Blacksite: Area 51, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Even, in many ways, the inimitable Bioshock qualifies. Not all are good, but some are great, maybe even “best game ever” material.

So why did we see so many this past year (and before you ask, yes, I’m aware some were technically released in 2006)? Part of the answer might be found in the types of technology they’re pushing, making them great showcases for what new gaming platforms can do.

There were also some hotly anticipated sequels released, with HALO 3 in particular having the “biggest day in entertainment sales ever.” Multiplayer features have also been a big draw, keeping players hooked for the long haul. And, of course, there’s also the socio-political pressure that’s been put on the genre since day one (though, ironically enough, most of the attention has been focused on Manhunt 2, which isn’t a shooter at all).

Taking all of that into account, maybe it was just a perfect storm of sorts — one grand coincidence created by the combination of a strict holiday deadline and finally-finished development times.

But 2008 looks remarkably different with fewer First Person Shooters on the docket. Thinking of the top of my head, only three stand out – Ubisoft’s delayed HAZE, hype-machine Killzone 2, and, well, Duke Nukem Forever (good one, Broussard!). There will unquestionably be others, but it looks like my original fears were unwarranted. I’ll no longer need to be writing that article.

So, with the FPS taking some much needed time off, what other genre will we be sick and tired of by the end of next year?

2008: Year of the Free-Roamer?

It’s a no-brainer that Grand Theft Auto IV is going to rule the gaming scene. Whether it comes out in the Spring (as planned), or in the Fall (as expected), it will serve as the anchor for free-roaming sandbox games to sail into port. Like a ship-load of liquored-up seamen on shore leave, though, we should probably hope they don’t overstay their welcome.

Remember what happened last time? Free-roaming elements shoehorned into every orifice of a game which otherwise might’ve been good, checkpoint races that take you from zero to frustrating inanity in four seconds flat? A redux of this kind of game design without appropriate context built around it would be unfortunate for an industry that really needs to start finding new ideas.

That said, I’ve got a feeling that we’re in for a few tasty treats. Last year’s GTA clone du jour, Saints Row, should be having another go-around. Up against the king itself, this time, the court jester’s got to become the assassin. Or at least some sort of bizzaro-world, evil twin assassin, considering that the more Volition tries to differentiate itself from its inspiration, the closer it seems to come to it.

“Saints Row has a much darker and more sinister story that leads your character down a path of betrayal, revenge, and redemption against the city that left him for dead, although we’ve blended that with the same light-hearted humor from the original.”

That’s from the official announcement press release. Bittersweet story of revenge with cheeky, culture-skewering laughs thrown in to balance out (or sometimes compliment) the wanton bloodshed? Sounds like a crib notes version of Grand Theft Auto to me.

If Volition’s up to the task and rolls out a quality product, though, I don’t think anybody’s willing to complain.

Speaking of inspiration, ‘08 should see at least two from the school of Crackdown (and hopefully expanding on its great, but underdeveloped concepts). Prototype comes from the makers of Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, another last-gen free-roamer, and from the recent footage shown at the Spike Video Game Awards, it looks like your character’s super-destructive powers improve the more you use them.

Sucker Punch’s Infamous, of which we’ve seen nothing since E3, also looks to hit next year. Featuring a similarly-endowed avatar, it’s easy to draw comparisons to Prototype, but from what we can glean, it leans more towards a super-hero morality tale. The early trailer seemed to imply that you would do more than just play around in a sandbox, you’d shape it, and that you might have the delightfully villainous ability to destroy man in the process.

Assuming other titles like L.A. Noire and Mercenaries 2 also show up in ‘08, sandbox games look poised to, er, rule the sandbox once again.

2008: Year of Game 2.0?

Game 2.0’s a fancy term, but it’s not at all a new concept. The idea that a someone could effectively change, hack, or recombine elements of a game has bred a healthy, if somewhat exclusive modding community. I say “exclusive” because of the technical know-how often needed to produce any worthy results, let alone something other people would actually enjoy fooling around with.

Game 2.0 aims to bring those capabilities down to the average human being, just as Prometheus did with fire. Hopefully no vengeful gods are angered in the process.

Leading the charge is Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet, now firmly locked as a 2008 title. Voraciously cute and brimming with creativity, it puts almost all of the game’s development possibilities in the player’s hands. Levels are completely customizable. If you can do it with physics, you can probably do it in LBP. Likewise, being able to import various stamps and graphics allows you to add your own, unique look to creations.

Often times, though, we don’t know a whole lot about a game’s customization features until later on its development cycle when it becomes a fully fleshed-out concept. It’s tough to say what may or may not come out way in 2008, but this year’s offerings gave us a tease.

HALO 3’s Forge was a great way to appeal to casual modders, stripping away the need to meddle around in screens of code for half a year before quitting, resurrecting your project two weeks later, and then another two weeks later finally telling the whole affair to sod off for good. Plus, we get some really neat things out of it, like Rit Dye’s self-portrait.

And that’s really the spirit of Game 2.0, isn’t it? Flexing your creative muscle and accomplishing things even the original developers would never have conceived?

Some of the other things that have impressed me lately are custom paint jobs. Forza 2’s liveries were a huge hit. Using up to a thousand different shapes, modified for size and color, players have concocted some truly elaborate skins for their cars.

With features like this, Forza becomes just as much a canvas for budding artists as it does a game for car enthusiasts.

Rock Band’s character customization has a similar, if slightly less elaborate, system for creating tattoos to slap on your avatar. Even I was able to construct a basic Pokeball, clearly making my rocker the coolest dude in town.

Ah, and then there’s the unique art of making a complete fool of yourself. Perhaps latching more onto the “unfortunate internet celebrity” bandwagon instead of the “express yourself” bandwagon, Sony’s SingStar lets you record videos of yourself singing like banshee and shuffling back-and-forth as awkwardly as possible in your very own living room! Though it hasn’t hit the US yet (licensing issues, to be sure), the game is beginning to leak out around Europe, and the results couldn’t be more embarassing.

In 2008, modders will continue to mod, but you don’t need to be a coding whiz to participate in the creation of something new. The concept of Game 2.0 is just beginning to hit its stride, dragging every undiscovered genius along with it.

2008: Year of the Downloadable Content?

Not all predictions are hopeful. The DLC model has introduced us to the concept of microtransactions, and we’re bound to see more in the coming years, both good and bad. For every The Godfather cheat in the world, you’ve also got new songs for Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

But if we’re talking about digital distribution in general, then we’re getting some pretty keen stuff through the same channels – fully, downloadable games, many of the “independent developer” persuasion. Highlights of 2007? Everyday Shooter, Super Stardust HD, Gripshift, Warhawk, PixelJunk Racers, High Velocity Bowling, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Bomberman, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and others. That’s some serious pedigree right there.

Nintendo’s entering the fray next year with WiiWare (Virtual Console aside, of course), which should only push the phenomenon further.

There’s also the hope that we’ll see bigger titles available online, like the aforementioned Warhawk. Older titles are great (VC, Xbox Originals, PS Classics), but new games are even better. Since we know this is the direction that the industry is moving towards in the future (how can we forget about the crazy success of Steam?), I don’t think it would be far-fetched to say we’ll see a lot of DLC in 2008.

2008: What It Probably Won’t Be

Perhaps the most ideal year will be one in which no particular genre or concept will dominate. We’ll all live together in harmony and skip down Candy Cane Lane as unicorns soar overhead dropping rainbow-colored gumdrops straight into our mouths. Then one bold individual will realize that our utopia is a sham and that human nature always has a way of breaking out of its shackles. We’ll suffer through the Great Fluffy Bunny War for a few years before society can be rebuilt, and then a clever author will write a best-selling book about the whole affair.

Or maybe I’m thinking of 2012, when the Mayan calendar ends. Oh well, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.

Something we can’t deny, though, is the entertainment industry’s penchant for taking a good idea and driving it into the ground. That’s the one constant we can depend on.

That said, 2008 probably won’t be the Year of the RPG (FFXIII won’t hit until 2009, or later), it probably won’t be the Year of Waggle (it’s either outlived its welcome or already become so ingrained in our collective gaming consciousness that we won’t think about it so much anymore), and it probably won’t be the Year of Sports Games (bold prediction, I know!).

And, thank the gods, it probably won’t be the Year of the FPS again!

For what it’s worth, I’m banking on my very first pick (Year of the Free-Roamer) to be the right one. What about you, dear readers? What do you think will define the world of gaming in 2008?

The notoriously critical UK Magazine has revealed its December edition scores. Another 10 is given, but not to a PS3 or Xbox360 game. Interesting scores this month, with Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect getting the same score. Find out after the jump.

Edge only gave out five 10/10 scores in nine years, but in the last three months there have been three additions; Halo 3, The Orange Box, and now:

Super Mario Galaxy – 10
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – 8
Assassin’s Creed – 7
Crysis – 9
Mass Effect – 7
Call of Duty 4 – 9
Kane and Lynch – 6
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground – 6
The Simpson’s Game – 5
Zack and Wiki – 8
The Witcher – 5
Bladestorm – 8
Castlevania Dracular X – 7
Silent Hill Origins – 7
Hellgate: London – 6
Timeshift – 6
Mutant Storm Empire – 8
Guitar Hero III – 6
Beowulf – 5
Need for Speed: Pro Street – 6

As soon as we find out the magazines pluses and minuses about some of these games we will post them. So check back soon to find out why Bladestorm got an 8/10 and Mass Effect only got 7/10.

While you wait, why not have a read of our reviews here at Ripten.com, which stack up quite well against the very harsh Edge Magazine.

Source: Neogaf

Reality, what does the word mean to you? Does it equate to the sum of everything you perceive as living and organic? Or perhaps it’s the quotient of all life’s experiences? Regardless, more often than not, the real world offers an intangible connection that our imaginations do not.

Still every now and again the lines get blurred to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish reality from fiction. It’s this undefined line that so many developers over the years have strived for, and yet so few have achieved.

Prepare to blur your perception of reality, because to simply say that Crysis is the most beautiful game I have ever seen would be an understatement. Not just in terms of blunt graphical performance, Crysis also boasts one of the most fluid, natural gaming environments ever created by anyone — ever.

Crysis won’t be the last to claim the figurative crown of technical achievement, however it will leave its mark, and likely be remembered as the game that ushered us all into the NEXT next generation of gaming much like Doom 3 did almost four years ago. The similarities don’t stop there between Crysis, and id’s sci-fi shooter, consequently both where branded on podcasts and message boards alike as being the game that everyone wants to have, yet no one can afford.

The sheer amount of money needed to get into PC gaming has always been an obstacle towards the mainstream success of the platform. The stark reality has never been more apparent than it is now, you get what you pay for! An obvious statement, made all the more true by the barrier to entry saddled onto modern gaming PCs.

With costs ranging from $250 to $500 for a single piece of hardware, it’s easy to see where outspoken message board posters are coming from. That said, the visual superiority has never been more apparent than it is now. The CryENGINE2 reminds PC gamers why they’re the bleeding edge in terms of graphics and next gen gameplay. Not only do environments look stunning, but they also feature destructible buildings and foliage, which adds an enormous amount of realism to the game.

Cover never conceals you for very long, as enemy AI will flank your position, inevitably blowing up any shanty or hut you happen to seek refuge in. It makes for a visceral experience that no other game has matched, while still keeping framerates in the green.

With this level of technical marvel, it’s easy to overlook the other end of the proverbial coin. If this game came out two years from now, with every game likely looking very similar from a graphical standpoint, would it still be worth playing? This thought process is the backbone for my review.

In many ways, graphical prowess and fluid gameplay have become symbiotic to each other. When everything around you looks and feels real, you tend to think more in terms of what you would do in real life, as opposed to in a video game. For instance, when you get shot to the point where your nanosuit runs out of energy, your gut instinct is to to run to cover and wait for it to recharge. However, more often than not, your cover will be blown out from under you, or the enemies will come and flank you from behind. It’s this level of realism that often times makes the game frustratingly difficult, as you just aren’t used to it.

Enemy AI isn’t the only thing you have to worry about either, as aiming from a distance can be extremely challenging as well. Bullets don’t fly on a perfectly straight trajectory once they leave your weapon. This makes equipable items like the rifle scope, and the targeting laser all the more necessary. The down side to using these however, is that they use up your power meter, in the same way your four suit powers do.

The powers include Speed, Strength, Armor, and Cloak. Sadly, while these features are fun, they are the only powers you will have throughout the game. The “fab four” become very repetitive, and the games lack of powerups seemed like a missed opportunity. Indeed this is Crysis’ biggest problem — the fact that everything just gets overplayed. It seems like they showed their hand too early, with later levels seeming relatively bland compared to the lush jungles of the beginning stages.

Pacing seems to be another issue, I often times just got burned out after firefights that seemed to take longer than they should. Now this is all subjective, and you’re experience may differ from mine given the open ended nature of the game. However, this feeling, compounded by the “LOST” meets “Predator” storyline made for a slightly disappointing experience (especially when you consider the games ending).

While the Multiplayer experience is not exactly as eye opening as its single player counterpart, it offers up a respectable amount of replay value. However, my one complaint is with the underpowered weapon selection. It’s not all that cool when nearly every attempt to kill your opponent can drag on for minutes, as you unload rounds while they cloak out or speed run away.

One thing the developers definitely deserve credit for, is their solution to the Battlefield vehicle problem. For those of you who’ve never played any of the Battlefield games, every time you want to get a decent vehicle, someone is almost always there before you, camping to get it first. Should you ever be lucky enough to get one, your own teammates shoot you out of jealousy. It’s totally asinine and it pisses me off to no end! In Crysis however, players are offered the chance to buy their own vehicles as opposed to finding them in static spawn areas. This approach works well, and keeps everybody happy.

This game has the style and the substance, so what does it lack? Forgiveness! Crysis brought my quad core, three gig, 8800GTX machine to its knees. It won’t change the way you look at gaming, and it probably won’t change reality as you know it, but what it will do is offer up some of the most stunning visuals ever created, combined with truly next gen gameplay that’s worth the price of admission.

Alas, the moment has arrived, as EA and Crytek have finally announced the minimum and recommended specs for the much anticipated PC FPS. Have at them after the jump.

Minimum System Requirements

OS – Windows XP or Windows Vista
Processor – 2.8 GHz or faster (XP) or 3.2 GHz or faster* (Vista)
Memory – 1.0 GB RAM (XP) or 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)
Video Card –256 MB**
Hard Drive – 12GB
Sound Card – DirectX 9.0c compatible

* Supported Processors: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.

** Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

Recommended System Requirements

OS – Windows XP / Vista
Processor – Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Memory – 2.0 GB RAM
GPU – NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/640 or similar

“Our vision for Crysis has always been to create the most stunning, immersive FPS experience ever, and we’ve been working hard not only to do that on the high end, but also in pushing current generation hardware so that everyone gets the maximum experience,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek.

“And while these specs affect how Crysis will perform now, we have also optimized Crysis so that the game scales forward 1-2 years –we want to make sure that Crysis’ gameplay, visuals and performance improves as technology does.”

This game is poised to push the boundaries of the latest in technological gaming advancment, but as you can see above, will also be playable on most gaming setups going back as far as 2 to 3 years.

Crysis is expected to hit store shelves November 16, 2007. We here at Ripten will be following this game closely in the coming weeks so check back often.

Electronic Arts and Crytek announced today that the much anticipated title Crysis will be hitting retail stores in North America and Europe on November 16, 2007 exclusively for the PC.

Crytek’s CEO and President, Cevat Yerli, was quoted saying that he believes the game will be “worth the wait”. Well, we sure hope so. Another thing worth noting here is that the game has yet to be rated by the ESRB or the PEGI. Stay tuned.

If you were a PC game which console would you make your way to — The Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3? Let us think about the recent course of events for a moment and examine the facts.

Could Crytek be following in the footsteps of Epic? There has been a job post on Crytek’s official site looking for a PS3 developer for several months now, however when asked about it Crytek declined to comment.

The job opening itself may be all the fuel Playstation 3 fans need, however we would like to add some more. Take into consideration the course of events that took place recently between Sony and Epic.

Sony has just made themselves very attractive to PC game developers by allowing mods and map building on their console, exactly the type of things that Microsoft would not.

If Sony is willing to extend the offer they made Epic to other developers (and we can’t see why they wouldn’t) then the “woosh” noise you hear in the distance may very well be the sound of developers lining up to sign on Sony’s dotted line.

To those who say this rumor has already been addressed by Crytek’s CEO, we say this, was it not just a few weeks ago we heard a Sony executive state that there were currently no plans for a price cut on the PS3? When reading carefully crafted responses from politicians and business men alike, it is important to read between the lines effectively. Below is what Cevat Yerli, Crytek’s CEO was quoted saying…

“Crytek nor any third parties are currently engaged in developing Crysis for console platforms.”

The key word in that statement is “currently”. Currently could mean this year, this month, or as in Sony’s case it could mean the exact moment the executive was giving the speech.

To those who say the PS3 is not capable of handling the requirements for the Crysis game, you may want to rethink your stance on the subject. We recently spoke to two Crytek representatives at this years E3, of which one mentioned that the game is still being worked on and their hopes are to not only continue to improve the overall experience, but to also find ways to lower the minimum spec requirements necessary to play the game.

In addition to our conversation at E3, Crytek’s lead artist Michael Khaimzon had the following to say in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz on June, 10th 2006:

“I don’t think there would be any problem to convert anything we work on to the next-gen consoles if we decided to.”

“We have enough power here, with programmers and artists, to be able to do such a thing. It’s just a matter of making the decision.”

In closing, while the game has only been announced for the PC and meant to be run on DirectX 10 with support for DirectX 9, it seems that Crytek is still looking to refine the games requirements and broaden their market penetration. Maybe they are making Crysis for the PS3, maybe they aren’t, but the bottom line is developers will follow in Epic’s footsteps because Sony is willing to allow them liberties that Microsoft presently is not.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Crytek’s Community Manager, Alexander Marschal, and EA’s Senior Producer, Dan Blackstone for a hands on demo of the upcoming highly anticipated Crysis PC first person shooter.

From the moment we put hands to keyboard and mouse, it was clear that everything we had heard and everything we had seen was about to become true.

The environment was highly detailed and insanely interactive, all of which made for a gameplay experience that immediately elevated itself to a level above anything else we had seen in a first person shooter.

The controls were fluid and did not take long at all to get used to. With one click you will be able to access all variations of your nano suit. Gameplay is wide open, and while you will have objectives, how you attain them is totally up to you.

In the level we played, the goal was to take out the enemies satellite unit which was jamming your signal. We opted for the in your face route down the mountain side. After we super jumped our way up, we smashed the unit with our bare hands.

Patrolling enemies have a multitude of behaviors, although everytime we looked up it seemed that at least one of them was taking a leak into the ocean. At one point we waited for a soldier to finish relieving himself on the dock and shot him in the head. He fell forward into the water, essentially floating in a pool of his own bodily fluid … and you thought salt water tasted bad.

When all was said and done, the game was very impressive and enemy reactions were well thought out and extremely realistic. Enough talk, have a look at our gameplay video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Weapons Trailer

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gameplay Montage Trailer

Those doubting the game based on its requirements need to look no further than the home page of the site to understand the logic that must run through the mind of each Crytek developer hard at work on the title.

We here at ripten have made our feelings regarding the game no secret as we firmly believe it will be one of the best first person shooters ever made, but you don’t need to to take our word for it, check out the site yourself for access to the latest media, wallpapers, news, and game forums, click here.

But what if there was a game that would allow you to see what you could never see before. The moving blades of grass, the branches on the trees swaying from recent contact, and the fresh set of prints in the mud that will ultimately lead you to your prey. It does exist, the engine is CryENGINE 2 and the game is Crysis for the PC.

There there now, you are in the company of friends and there is no shame in crying tears of joy. If it makes you feel better, we will look the other way for a moment. You ready to go on? Great.

Crysis is brought to us by Crytek (developers of Far Cry) and will be published by Electronic Arts.

The year is 2019 and the plot is pure sci-fi as gamers take on the role of a US Commando fighting for the future of mankind against an invasion of “hunters” (an advanced extraterrestrial army who hitched a ride to earth hidden inside a giant asteroid).

Every earth saving commando needs armor and the “Nanosuit” (shown on the Crysis video game cover above) is much more than a protective coating. When combined with your characters mutated DNA you will be able to run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and demolish would be obstacles in your way.

Ever wish you could walk into the line of fire and laugh at every bullet that tries to take you down? Jump off a massive cliff and live to tell about it? Well applying the Nanosuits “tough armor” mode will allow you to do just that. There is of course a trade off for each specific mode. The tough armor mode for example slows down the speed of your character.

The full lists of modes are as follows:

• Speed mode: Make everyone else look like they are standing still as you run, jump, and reload like a soldier on speed.
• Strength mode: Unbelievable strength allows you to smash, stomp, and throw anything that dares get in your way.
• Cloak mode: Experience what we like to call “Predator mode” as your suit becomes transparent helping you blend into your surroundings.

Right about now you are probably thinking “With all of that at my disposal there is no way anyone or anything could ever defeat me!”

Think again because the extraordinarily intelligent and freakishly powerful enemies in Crysis are some of the most compelling enemies a first person shooter has ever seen.

If online action is what you are craving, Crytek has you covered there as well with up to 32 players playing all the modes you have come to expect including; Deathmatch, Team Deathamatch, and Capture The Flag. But the action doesn’t stop there. Developers have added a fourth mode called “Entitled Power Struggle” which pits two parties up against each other commandeering factories and manufacturing “special weapons” to destroy the other parties base.

Crysis is a first person shooter with an immersive storyline set in a dynamic world where everything from enemies to earthquakes pose a threat to your character. So prepare yourself for an experience truly unlike any other as this game aims to be the best of its kind.

Minimum Requirements
CPU: Athlon 64 3000+/Intel 2.8ghz
Graphics: Nvidia 6600 or ATI X1600 – Shader Model 2.0
RAM: 1GB
HDD: 6GB
Internet: 256k+
Optical Drive: DVD
Software: DX9 with Windows XP / Vista

Recommended Requirements
CPU: Dual-Core CPU (Athlon X2 / Pentium D / Core 2 Duo)
Graphics: Nvidia 7800GT or ATI X1800XL Pro (SM 3.0)
RAM: 1.5GB+
HDD: 6GB
Internet: 512k+ (128k+ upstream)
Optical Drive: DVD
Software: DX9 with Windows XP / Vista

Update: 6/24/07 – 11:00AM EST
Gamestop.com is reporting the release date as Septembe 11, 2007. With Halo 3 also coming out in September, it appears that both console and PC gamers will be in for an action filled month of gaming.

Update: 7/15/07 – 3:13PM EST
We have uploaded our E3 07 – Crysis Hands On Video.

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