Tech Olive

Back in 2002, Valve sued Activision over royalties. In the end, Activision agreed to pay a settlement of almost 2.4 million dollars (USD) to Half-life‘s creator. It’s a bit confusing, but it seems that Activision decided that they had previously overpaid Valve. So when they finally cut the settlement check, it came to a total of almost 2 million dollars, a whole 400,000 dollars short of the agreed total. Valve, being understandably upset, have filed suit once again against Activision, with Activision deciding to push back with a counter-suit against Valve. Stay tuned…

Just a couple of days ago, Microsoft announced that they have completed Service Pack 2 for Vista and Windows Server 2008. It’s not clear when Service Pack 2 will be available, but Microsoft has stated that they will push the final version to customers through Automatic Update over the next few months. This means that customers not yet running SP1 will be pushed to download it to be prepared for SP2.

Service Pack 2 will bring Windows Search 4.0, the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack, the ability to record data on Blu-ray natively through Windows, Windows Connect Now (a simpler WiFi tool), the addition of support for UTC timestamps in the exFAT file system, as well as the obvious security and performance updates.

As announced by Mozilla, the fourth beta of Firefox 3.5 will be the last beta. Mozilla says they are on track for a late Q2 release of Firefox 3.5.

Mozilla also mentions that their large testing community helps them a great deal and hopes they will develop full versions for frequently. It took Mozilla two years to make 3.0, while it only took one year to develop 3.5. Quite a difference there.

iWoz is the auto biography of the computer genius who invented the affordable and practical personal computer, Steve Wozniak or as most people call him “Woz”. I picked up this book for six dollars and some change on Amazon after watching the film Pirates of Silicon Valley, which is a biography/drama of how the personal computer and the companies who first made them began. After becoming fascinated with the whole story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and how they started the personal computer market, I decided to learn more about the man who really began the whole thing, but who hardly gets any credit. Although Jobs was a marketing genius, many people don’t know that without Woz, there probably would be no personal computer, or at least not like the one you are sitting in front of right now.

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A recent press release from Activision has revealed that Call of Duty: World at War’s second map pack is in the works and set for release this June. The new pack will feature three new multiplayer maps and one new zombie map. And (you’re gonna love this) is planned for release on Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. That’s right, at time of writing, there are no plans for this map pack releasing for PC. Though, I think it’s safe to assume that PC gamers will get these maps with the next patch.

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Valve is giving potential fans of their fantastically successful co-op zombie shooter, Left4Dead, a chance to try it out for free before they buy it. Starting at 12:01AM (GMT) Friday morning, Left4Dead will be free for the day. 24 hours of as much zombie killing as you can manage. And don’t forget, this is the best time to play L4D, with the recent release of the Survival Pack.

Instead of using this month’s retro review to play a game from my past, I decided to let it give me an excuse to play a game that I should have played long ago. Something that is hard to admit, but is a sad truth. I had never played Day Of The Tentacle. It was before my time, but that is no excuse to have skipped out on this classic addition to Lucas Arts’ amazing collection of point-and-click adventure games.

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With the release of Street Fighter IV rapidly approaching for PC gamers, Capcom has released some information about what changes to expect from the console versions of the game. As expected, SF IV is Games for Windows, so it will have online play, achievements, voice chat and flawless support for Xbox 360 accessories. PC gamers are also treated to higher resolutions and a range of different art styles for the game; Normal, Water Color, Sumo-e Ink and Poster Shader (Click each style for a comparable preview image). Check out Shacknews for more comparison screenshots.

Wacom recently updated their line of professional graphic tablets with the release of the Intuos4 product line. The tablets themselves have gone through a pretty major redesign, and the stylus features new 2^nd generation technology with regard to sensitivity. I am pretty impressed after spending a couple weeks getting to know the Intuos4. I’d like to share some complements with the folks at Wacom, a few suggestions, and some insights for the new tablet user.

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If there’s anything left over from my gaming days on the PS1 and PS2, it’s my love for the Tekken series. Sadly, the Tekken series and I have grown apart since my devotion to PC gaming. The spark got a little brighter upon the release of Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP, but it has since faded. Well, it seems that my passion for violence is to be fed once again. Tekken 6 is not only planned for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall,  but has also just been announced for the PSP and is set to release at the same time as the console versions.