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Author: Team TD

  • Black Ops 2 Peacekeeper SMG Details Revealed

    Black Ops 2′s Game Design Director David Vonderhaar went on Twitter after the release of “The Replacement” trailer for the upcoming Revolution DLC Pack to talk about the DLC pack’s bonus weapon – the Peacekeeper SMG.

    8s7T1PF Black Ops 2 Peacekeeper SMG Details Revealed

    The Peacekeeper will be added into the game via an upcoming patch allowing all players to pick up the weapon in custom and public matches but you will only be able to put the gun in your loadout if you have purchased the DLC pack making the system very similar to Battlefield 3. Also to get the Diamond camo for the Peacekeeper SMG all you need to do is get it to Gold after you have completed all of the camo challenges for the other SMGs. We still don’t know at what level or how the gun will be unlocked in Multiplayer or if it will be available in Zombies, guess we’ll find out in a few days.

    black ops 2 revolution dlc pack peacekeeper 1 570x317 Black Ops 2 Peacekeeper SMG Details Revealed

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    The Assault Rifle SMG hybrid gun called the Peacekeeper is the first DLC weapon to be implemented in a Call of Duty game and will be available as an added bonus with the Revolution DLC Pack in Black Ops 2. The Revolution DLC pack hits Xbox Live on the 29th of January for 1200MSP and Wii U, PS3 and PC sometime after.

  • Google Might Be Planning To Incorporate Google TV Into The Next Version Of Android

    Ice Cream (The next version of Android) is said to be a mixture of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android 3.0 Honeycomb which sounds awesome but it seems that Google might also be planning to add Google TV to the mix. Google TV failed to radically capture markets but incorporating it will the popular smartphone operating system might prove to be a very smart decision.

    This decision could lead tablets, phones and TVs running on the same OS which would offer a much streamlined experience, heck we could even be able to have Android powering our house if this keeps up. This rumors sounds really good but we’ll have to wait till Google IO 2011 for the official announcement.

    Source: GTVSource

  • Final Fantasy 13 Review

    Final Fantasy the king of the JRPG scene revolutionizes the genre with each installment. The series always strives to offer graphics, music, gameplay and presentation at a higher standard and succeeds to give an unforgettable experience every time. Final Fantasy XIII is the first of the series to come out on the current gen consoles and just as expected it is a fantastic game but not without its flaws.

    XIII takes place in the protected society of Cocoon which lies above the world of Pulse. Cocoon is the highly civilized world while Pulse is filled with the so called “Savages” and dangerous monsters. The citizens of Cocoon are always under threat from an invasion from Pulse so they rely entirely on the Fal’Cie, god like creatures that provide cocoon with food, weather and even light. Cocoon’s Fal’Cie are considered as protectors while Pulse’s Fal’Cie the enemy. In Final Fantasy XIII players take the role of 6 Cocoon residents who in unexpected events are turned into Pulse l’Cie enemy of Cocoon. Now our Heroes, servants of the Pulse Fal’Cie must fulfill the tasks or suffer a fate far worse that death.

    The first half of the game is pretty dull and confusing. A lot of the story is thrown at you without any context or explanation. Also in the first few hours you get a stripped down battle system with easy encounters. The player doesn’t even need to concentrate, just press the Auto-Battle button a couple of times and you’re done. Apart from that the game stays so frigging linear in the first 3 hours that it gets almost boring.

    Later when the Paradigm and Crystarium systems become available the game really gets started. Characters win Crystarium Points in battles and then use it for stat boosts, skills, magic etc. Learning new skills opens paths to stronger ones for instance learning Thunder opens paths to learn Thundara.The available commands/moves in battles vary from character to character, but old favorites like Attack, Summon, Defend and series staples like Fire, Lighting, Blizzard are available. Magic cannot be used outside of battle so HP is fully restored after every battle, also players cannot escape from battles although there are items that help avoiding battles. If a player loses the battle they have either the option to try again or return to the last save point.

    A new element in the game never implemented in the previous Final Fantasy games is the Padagrim shift system. They are basically classes or stances the characters temporarily take on during battles. They are a bit different from the job system as the in the Padagrim shift system attacking classes can only attack while healers can only heal. There are a total of 6 classes first limited to some characters but later available to all of them. The commando is the main attacker of the party, they deal high non elemental damage, the Ravagers are the Black Mages, they deal elemental damage and chaining combos is easier with them. The other four are Sentinels, they protect other party members and take less damage, Medic the healers, Synergists buff up the party while the Saboteurs inflict status aliments.

    Summons my personal favorite element of the final fantasy series make a return as Eidolons, which can only be used by the L’Cie. All the summons have been given a futuristic overhaul and the power to change shapes (called Gestalt mode). Summons use Summon Points instead of Health points to indicate their health, after the Summons points are reduced to zero the Eidolons would disappear.

    Moving along to the graphics sections now. The PS3 version runs at native 720p at around 25-30fps while the Xbox360 version runs at 576p at constant 30fps. The differences are very minimal otherwise, I just felt that the Xbox360 controller was more comfortable to use for the game and the Xbox360 version was available bit earlier so I got that. The lighting effects and shadows are brilliant on both versions. Graphically the game is a visual masterpiece just as expected from the franchise. A lot of effort has also been put in the character models as each and everyone of them look unique and extraordinary.

    I really liked the music score, one of the best sound tracks of the year. The music blends perfectly with the mood of the story. I really loved Snow’s theme which features a beautiful upbeat melody.

    Final Fantasy XIII is a game which some people will like while others will hate. The developers have tried something fresh leaving behind all the other JRPG copycats. In my opinion the game’s craftsmanship cannot be denied, so get the game I’m sure you will enjoy it.

    Score: 8.5/10

     

  • Dead Island Gameplay Video Shows Us Over 10 Minutes Of Footage

    Dead Island, which is going to be released this August on PS3, PC and Xbox 360, is the upcoming melee FPS game from Deep Silver. In this game, players will be trapped in an Island full of zombies and have to survive through this zombie apocalypse. This game seems to take a more serious approach in terms of emotions and story. See this “To Kill Time” video after the break.

  • Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    It’s that time of the year again. E3 is just around the corner and we all know what to expect. But all of us have a wishlist and here are the Top 5 things we want at E3.

    5. The Next Zelda

    zelda wii u1 720x405 Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword received perfect scores from over 30 publications and amazing reviews and scores from others. With gamers on high alert with the features of the Wii U, a new Zelda game for the console would be the cherry on the cake. Sure it’s a long shot and it’s only a while since the previous one came out but we expect Nintendo to unveil a new Zelda game for the fans and maybe it’ll be for the Wii U.

    4. Alan Wake Sequel

    alanwakean1 1 Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    We all got spooked, thrilled and loved Alan Wake for it’s amazing gameplay, characters and storyline and it did leave us hanging on the cliff at the end of the game. Everyone who has played Alan Wake have been craving for a sequel and since E3 is just around the corner most of us will be surprised to find out that there’s an Alan Wake sequel. With the lead writer of Alan Wake, Remedy’s Sam Lake tweeting “It’s all true. ‘It will happen again, in another town, a town called Ordinary.’ It’s happening now”. A sequel to Alan Wake may be on the cards sooner rather than later.

    3. Killzone 4

    Killzone 3 Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    Most of you who have played Killzone 3 would have seen the after credits seen where two surviving Hazmat soldiers from Stahl Arms. The Stahl soldiers address the individual as ‘sir’ as they welcome him back to Helghan. Post-Credits scenes always indicate a sequel and rarely has it been otherwise. It can be assumed the sequel will most likely take place a long time after the events of Killzone 3 since the surviving population would need to replenish their loses. If there is a Killzone 4, the losses the Helghast have suffered will positively cause a riot or rebellion to the senate.

    2. Agent

    Agent PS3 Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    In July 2007, Sony had announced that Rockstar was working on a new franchise for the PlayStation 3. The Details of the project, which included it’s title, were not announced until June 2009 during the Sony press conference at E3. So after almost 5 long years of working on this project can we expect a possible teaser at E3? We sure can. Announcing this game may delay the release of the highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto V” but for a game that has been in development since 2007 deserves to be released now. Unless Rockstar is going for total perfection, which they are usually good at, Agent will be something most gamers would love to see at E3.

    1. Xbox [720?]

    Xbox Loop Top 5 Things We Want From E3

    Possibly what all gamers want to see this year at E3 is the console for next generation gaming. Going by it’s codename Durango or it’s widely popular name, the Xbox 720 is the most anticipated and hopeful announcement that fans want Microsoft to make. An extreme possibility considering the number of rumors that have been coming out over the past few months, The Xbox 720 is something most of was would want to see. After all the boring Microsoft E3 presentations over the past couple of years maybe this time they can add some flair and drive the fans crazy. Come on Microsoft! You know what we want!

    Some of these may seem like a long shot. Some may not. But let’s just hope the respective companies do actually reveal one of our items on the wish list. Gamers all over are expecting one of these items to turn into reality, keeping our fingers crossed is all we can do right now. E3 2012 is sure to have a lot of surprises for us. Let’s hope it’s a big one.

  • Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    WordPress is without a doubt the definitive blogging CMS out there. Being the best has a price, a hefty one. WordPress themes and customizations are good until they bring your blog’s performance down and make it nothing more than a memory hog on your server.

    In this tutorial I’m going to go all out on WordPress Performance issues and how to make them better. I’m going to be talking about some of the most important steps needed to make any self-hosted WordPress blog faster, more secure and more reliable. Make your WordPress site less of a memory hog and give your server some breathing room. If you’ve noticed a gradual downfall in Google ranking or a decline in traffic altogether, you’d need to spruce up your blog a bit and do some housekeeping, this article will help you how, read and follow the steps below to stop with the frustrating speeds and move on to better blogging.

    Step One: Realize The Current Condition Of Your Blog

    TechDeville.com GoodOrBad Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    The first and most important step you need to take is to figure out, off the bat, the score of your blog on PageSpeed and YSlow. The former is Google’s official speed analytic app and the latter is Yahoo!’s. Now once you see the result, you’ll know whether to move on to the next steps or not. If your blog ranked somewhere in the “B” grade on PageSpeed, that is from 80 to 89 percent score, you’re good to go. 83% is the average speed of websites so you have nothing to worry about. YSlow is going to give you dramatically low scores as compared to PageSpeed, that’s because Yahoo! has different algorithms than Google, they determine the ranking of websites through different means and methods. I tried making them both happy but it’s not gonna happen. If you could just get up to a “C” on YSlow, you’re awesome!

    Now the next steps are IF YOU DON’T GET A “B” IN PAGESPEED.

    Step Two: Your Blog Sucks At PageSpeed, Now What?

    TechDeville.com Judge1 600x195 Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    No need to panic as yet. Every blog has a number of plugins and theme extensions that people keep installing and become plugin hoarders in time. First of all, REMOVE UNNECESSARY PLUGINS. See if the plugins currently active on your blog are actually needed or not. Disable as many plugins as possible. For most blogs, using ten plugins should be enough, just make sure you’re using the most important plugins, I will write up an article on the most viral plugins for WordPress soon be sure to follow up on that.

    Google PageSpeed: Click Here

    YSlow: Click Here

    Step Three: WHAT? YOU DON’T HAVE A CACHE PLUGIN INSTALLED?!

    TechDeville.com Get Caching Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    I’ve blogged about this enough in the past and emphasized on this one point more than once, having a cache plugin is VITAL for every blog. You can make your selection from three of the good ones, Super Cache, W3 Total Cache or Hyper Cache. I’ve written a long enough article on the cache plugins here, give it a read and come back. Now that you have a proper cache plugin of your choice installed, go grab a cup of coffee, the next step is kinda lengthy.

    Step Four: Pick Out Your CSS Files And Clean Them One By One

     

    TechDeville.com CleanItUp 480x480 Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    Now that we’re done with all of the above, we need to get into the nitty gritty details of it all. We need to take the CSS files you have, also known as Cascading Style Sheets, and smush them into smaller and lighter files WITHOUT damaging the theme’s exterior. If you’re using Thesis framework or Whiteboard Framework, make sure to make a full backup of your /themes/ folder before you go on with this change. Now run the PageSpeed test from Google, see which CSS files are required to be shortened and find the codes that are not being used in them and just lying around gathering dust.

    There’s a much easier way of doing this, by using Unused-CSS.

    The Easy Way To Step Four: UNUSED-CSS

     

    unused css Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    Unused CSS is one of the best and free services I’ve seen. Most of the CSS cleaning tools cost a fortune to work, this one gives you one totally free cleaning with no strings attached. Sign up for a free account and have your site’s CSS cleaned up. It takes five minutes and they email you the cleaned files to place over your older ones. The work is admirable and the change is surely noticeable. The premium account gives bigger sites the ability to scan deeper levels of their sites. The premium account costs around 24 dollars PER YEAR! Go check them out.

    Check out Unused-CSS: Click Here

    Step Five: Yahoo! Smush.It

    20090908104856Yahoo Messenger logo Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    Yahoo! Smush.it is one of the most famous plugins for WordPress. It takes your images and makes them as optimized as possible. The new version of the plugin even has the option of Bulk Smushing, it might take some time on bigger websites but it’s definitely worth the wait. Smush.it for WordPress is called WP Smush.it. Your new uploads will automatically be “smushed” from the time you activate this plugin.

    Yahoo! Smush.it Online Tool: Click Here

    WP Smush.it Plugin: Click Here

    Step Six: Never Look Back

     

    TechDeville.com BLOGROCKS Increase Your WordPress Performance By A Mile

    Do not change your theme to another one right after doing this cleaning. You need to get your ranking up, make Google happy by showing them your site isn’t a resource hog and it’s not all just for show. Keep checking your PageSpeed and YSlow results every week, if the ranking goes down, see what’s causing it and fix it. If you decide to change your blog’s look again, make sure it’s designed by a well-known developer, most of the big theme developers out there are very careful about their code and treat them like works of art. I recommended some awesome WordPress Theme Developers in my article here. TechDeville.com, after optimizing the blog, scored 89% on PageSpeed, which is pretty awesome.

    Some Downloads

    Download the latest version of WordPress: Here

    Download All-In-One SEO Plugin to keep things clean: Here

    For Further Assistance

     

    If your site is still showing bad scores after this entire process, comment below with your site’s URL and I’ll have a look at it. Thank you for reading, God-Speed. If you want to read our other helpful tips on WordPress, go here.

    For more tips on WordPress, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

     Disclaimer: All of the images used in the article, except for the logos, belong to TechDeville.com and should not be redistributed without proper permission. All of the above used logos are properties of their respected owners.

  • New Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX Details Revealed In Jump

    Along with revealing Lumina as a brand new character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the latest Jump also revealed some new information on the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX.

    In the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days section of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX, the theater scenes will show off brand new CG models for the main three characters of the game namely Roxas, Axel and Xion.

    KH 358 CG Scan New Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX Details Revealed In Jump

    Square Enix have also added a character encyclopedia where you can view bios and other details of your favorite characters.

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    Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX contains HD versions of the original Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories along with cutscenes explaining the story from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX will be hitting stores in Japan exclusively for the PS3 on the 14th of March. An international release has not be announced yet, but it is very likely to happen.

  • Monolith Soft Reveals X, Could Be Xenoblade Chronicles Sequel

    Monolith Soft and Nintendo revealed a brand new game codenamed X during Nintendo Direct. The game looks and plays very similarly to Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) but we’re still not sure if its a sequel as Nintendo is simply labeling it as “a new game from Monolith Soft,”. Check out the debut trailer below:

    The development is led by Director and Studio Head Tetsuya Takahashi, his previous works include Xenoblade Chronicles and previous Xeno games. The Character Design is being done by Kunihiko Tanaka responsible for Xenogears (PS1) and Xenosaga Episode 1 (PS2).  The Soundtrack is being done by Japanese film, TV and anime composer veteran Hiroyuki Sawano.

    Below are some screens from the trailer:

    I personally think the game looks brilliant. The soundtrack, characters and world look very interesting, and don’t forget about the mechs! The game will also have multiplayer which is rare in JRPGs so it could turn out to be very promising.

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    What do you think about the game? Let us know in the comments below.

  • Latest Borderlands 2 SHiFT Code Will Stay Active Throughout The Weekend, Use It Quick

    GearBox Software, the guys behind Borderlands 2 release a brand new SHiFT on their Facebook page, yeah I know the post is a bit late, I just found out today. Anyway, the code will stay active till the 27th i.e today so you guys better use it quick!

    borderlands 2 screenshot 3 568x320 Latest Borderlands 2 SHiFT Code Will Stay Active Throughout The Weekend, Use It Quick

    The codes are below:

    • PC / Mac SHiFT Code for a Golden Key in Borderlands 2: 53KJ3-CK9W5-Z5XB3-T3BJT-969KW
    • Xbox 360 SHiFT Code for a Golden Key in Borderlands 2: 5BCTT-XX6SC-ZSXJX-KFJBJ-66R5W
    • PlayStation 3 SHiFT Code for a Golden Key in Borderlands 2: CTWJJ-95F53-CKCW3-9JWJT-T5ZBB

    The Borderlands 2 SHiFT code will award you a Golden Key needed to unlock the Golden Chest in Santuary, the Chest contains super rare items which you absolutely should have.

    Now all we need is for Gearbox to increase the level cap.

  • Partial iPad Mini jailbreak achieved

    iPad mini is a great tablet according to review, and Apple has also sold a sizeable amount of it already. However no matter how great it might be, there are a lot of potential customers who’d rather have it jailbroken before they purchase it. An image posted on Twitter recently by jailbreaking Dream Team, MuscleNerd, the iPad Mini jailbreak has been achieved. However it comes with certain amount of strings attached.

    ipad1 240x320 Partial iPad Mini jailbreak achieved

    The method to achieve such jailbreak is commonly known as ‘failbreak’. This means in order to jailbreak an iPad Mini you will need a developer account. This makes it kind of useless for the general public. But only for now. This is similar to the jailbreak we saw on the new iPad 4 which too required a similar developer account to work. Unfortunately such is the case with all A5 and A6 powered iDevices. Unless security methods on them are bypassed the iPad Mini jailbreak will be limited to a developer account only.

    The fact that a year old A5 chip has yet to be jailbroken isn’t comforting. But all hope is not lost. Even a failbreak is an achievement itself. Let’s hope work developers continue to do the work they’re doing and we get a full untethered iPad Mini jailbreak.