Video Games

Egosoft, producer of both the X2 and the X3 space simulators, will now be selling both products on Valve’s Steam for $29.95 a pop.  From the Egosoft email newsletter:

In order to bring both X²: The Threat and X³: Reunion to the widest
possible audience, there is now a new way to buy them that means you
don’t even have to leave your seat. Just head over to Steam where you
can purchase both games for download directly to your PC. No more
disks and an excellent price.
Since the Steam version does not include a registration code, access
restrictions on forums and downloads relating to X³: Reunion have been
lifted.

This is great news for lovers of space sims.  Available now.

Bynari, Inc., is not a company of ordinary software developers.  Not only do those at Bynari specialize in the field of email integration, but they also excel in it.  Some of their latest products include the Insight Server, Insight WebClient, Insight Connector, and Insight AddressBook for Microsoft Outlook.   

Their innovation has its roots in Linux technology, and the products are aimed at increasing efficiency at the small to mid-sized corporate level.  Both the architecture and positive reviews of Bynari’s products are testimony to its value.  Another point to be emphasized is the ability of their Linux-based email servers to talk to Outlook versions 2000-2003, as well as to other IMAP servers like Cyrus and Courier.  Check out their Outlook Groupware here.  Finally, the affordability of Bynari products truly makes the choice a cinch.

EA Games will soon release NFS: Carbon, their latest addition to the long-running series Need For Speed.  Check out these exclusive screenshots of the next installment of the racing-game franchise:

Cutting Corners

Inside Drift

Through the City

Up Close & Personal

Before the Curve

Burning Crusade, the official Blizzard expansion to the highly-acclaimed World of Warcraft, will add classes that were previously exclusive to either the Alliance or Horde race to the opposing faction.  That means that the Alliance players will be able to have Shamans, which used to be a Horde-only class.  Likewise, the Horde will now be able to play as Paladins.  The justification for the cross-over of exclusive classes between opposing races is that there are new Dungeons that require the unique abilities of both Shamans and Paladins–thus spoke Blizzard.  The down side of this idea is that now neither the Horde, nor the Alliance has a unique class, which seems like a rather bad thing to me.

If you have questions about what the PS3 is, why it’s built like it is, or where you can expect it to go in the future, then you’re in luck.  Apparently, Sony’s official, internal Q&A for E3 has leaked to the public, detailing everything from future plans for the console, to a justification of the employment of their Blue-Ray Disc technology.  A few key points are that:

PS3 is being positioned as a computer system, and not a computer entertainment system. Like other computer systems, it can be upgraded through the use of readily available industry standard adaptors.
There will therefore be two initial configurations of PS3, not two versions.
With the exception of the HDMI socket, every aspect of the 20GB model can be upgraded using readily available, industry standard adaptors.
No SCEE decision has yet been taken on the splut of PS3 configurations for the SCEE market.

You can peruse the full E3 Q&A at your leisure here.