Today Microsoft has officially released Windows 8 Consumer Preview version of their multi-platform upcoming operating system that will be able to work not only on traditional x86-based platforms, but also on mobile devices. Have in mind that this is a pre-release operating system or something like a beta software and you may have issues with it should you decide to try it out, do not try replacing your current operating system with this one, you have to install it separately just to test it out and not over your existing Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. There may be some issues with no drivers available for some of your hardware, although drivers from Windows 7 might also work, the same goes for the video drivers as well, although the new Windows 8 will have a new driver model that will be required to support all the new features, including native stereoscopic 3D support.
Currently Nvidia has not yet made available any beta drivers intended to be used with the just released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, what they recommend however is to install the R295.73 display drivers for Windows 7/Windows Vista on Windows 8, they should work, but again you may not get all the features available with them. On the other hand AMD has just released AMD Catalyst Drivers for Windows 8 Consumer Preview that you can download and install. And although these beta drivers from AMD are supposed to offer Full WDDM 1.2 support, including the native stereo 3D support, they are not compatible with the latest generation of AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series video cards, but only with the older models.
Feel free to download and try the new Windows 8 Consumer Preview version and to report how well it works for you and on what hardware, and also if you’ve tried playing in stereo 3D mode on your stereoscopic 3D-capable system. I’m already downloading it and am eager to check out the Native Stereo 3D support with the AMD Catalyst Driver 8.93.7 RC10 while waiting fro Nvidia to have a WDDM 1.2 beta driver released to also try it out.
The Polynomial is an interesting indie game that can be classified as some sort of music shooter game, but instead of traditional graphics the game uses fractals generated in sync with the music you listen to while you play. Who said that mathematics cannot be beautiful, because thanks to it the game looks original and different every time you play it. The Polynomial is not very demanding in terms of hardware requirements and although is may feel a bit strange getting the hang of playing it at first, the game is a visual feast that can be quite fun to play for a while, if you like it…
The Polynomial is an indie game, based on OpenGL and available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It also has native stereoscopic 3D support, however since it is OpenGL-based unfortunately you are not going to be able to play it in stereo 3D mode using 3D Vision. The game supports Anaglyph red-cyan 3D mode, Row-interleaved, Column-interleaved, DLP Checkerboard pattern as well as Side by Side mode, although the SbS isn’t working that good as it does not have the left and right eye image squeezed, but instead shows them with their full size. The game has a free demo version available with a limited number of levels, but you are still able to try it out in stereo 3D mode if you are interested.
EA has finally released the official PC version of the Crysis 2 multiplayer demo, and it is already available for Xbox 360 as well, with a PlayStation 3 demo also coming soon. The Crysis 2 multiplayer mode demo includes two maps – “Skyline” and “Pier 17″ in the war-torn Manhattan, as well as two gameplay modes – “Team Instant Action” and “Crash Site” with the final game expected to include much more of course. The “Team Instant Action” mode puts two teams against each other with the ultimate goal of killing as many opponents as possible in order to win the round and in the “Crash Site” mode players will battle for control of alien drop pods, earning points by guarding their pods and keeping enemies at bay. The full Crysis 2 game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 22 in North America and on March 25 in Europe.
And now, regarding the stereo 3D support in the demo. We already know that the game has its own native implementation for stereo 3D support that is supposed not to lead to significant framerate drops when in S3D mode as compared to playing in plain 3D mode. But at the moment the interest in the demo is probably so big, that the MyCrysis website is overloaded with requests for registrations and longins from users that it is almost constantly timing out, leaving new users wanting to try the demo unsatisfied. So I’m still trying to get pass the login screen of the them for a while now to try the demo in stereo 3D mode, but if you’ve already managed to test it, then please share your comments below…
