Irrational Games revealed a new mode for BioShock Infinite today – the fittingly titled “1999 mode.”

The new mode is for those of us who remember how difficult, but rewarding, older games were. This mode is especially designed for those who fondly remember games like System Shock 2 that challenged the player with a harder difficulty and more stats to keep track of.

“We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots,” Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games, said. “In 1999 Mode, gamers face more of the permanent consequences of their gameplay decisions. In BioShock Infinite, gamers will have to sweat out the results of their actions. In addition, 1999 Mode will demand that players pick specializations, and focus on them.

The mode came about when the team at Irrational asked players about their individual play styles. They came back with results that said 94.6 percent of players indicated that they used and enjoyed the upgrade choices in BioShock, but they were not permanent either. Those who felt that upgrades, however, should remain permanent constituted 56.8 of respondents.

In addition to the permanent decisions, 1999 mode will demand that players manage their weapon, power and health more closely. It also takes a harder stance on player respawns by sending the player directly to the “Game over” screen if they lack the resources to be brought back to life.

While 1999 mode is cleverly titled, it’s not the first time that game developers have realized that many gamers want a challenge that is reminiscent of days gone by. Fallout: New Vegas from Bethesda and Obsidian featured a hardcore mode that forced players to eat and drink to surive as well as other realism factors.

The game will release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC later this year.

For an idea of what they’re going for with the new 1999 mode, check out the main inspiration for this new mode: Irrational’s System Shock 2 which coincidentally released in 1999.

Below you can see the astronomical rise of Android since debuting on the market circa 2008:

And so, Dediu puts his bet on Android:

Oh, and if graphs impair your ability to learn things, Dediu put together an instructive animation of Android and iOS’s insurrection of PC’s long-time rule in the land of computer devices.

From this data, the trend that’s catching on is that, possibly, tables and maybe even smartphones are slowly replacing home computers and laptops as the primary computer-y device that they use. How do you feel about that? If you’re a tablet owner, do you find yourself using it more and more while you use your home computer or laptop less and less? Add your thoughts below.

That’s what Minecraft creator Markus Persson (Notch) wanted his fans to know when he announced on Twitter that the game had hit 20 million users.

If you’re new to the Minecraft craze, it’s a simple world-building game that tasks players to create anything and everything they want with the pieces of the world around them.

The game, while being available to play since 2009, only just officially launched as a complete product in November 2011.

Minecraft is a true indie success story of a small developer creating a truly innovative product that took the Internet by storm. The game has even found success with the mobile community, with Minecraft – Pocket selling over 700K copies.

Notch, always the joker, shared some more 20 million people facts to celebrate the occasion.

Are you one of the 20 million Minecraft players? If so, what do you like most about the indie darling? Have you created anything amazing?

When you’ve defied the medical odds and lived 50 years longer than what medical experts said, devised some of the most important theories in physics and cosmology, and become a multi-million book selling author, then maybe you can have your PC’s delivered to you by Intel personally. Until then we can get a small glimpse into the relationship Stephen Hawking has developed with PC component manufacturer, Intel.

This story begins in 1997, when Hawking was working with AMD to help him with his custom PC needs, due to the motor neuron disease which left him with very little physical functionality. According to Travis Bonifield, the Intel application engineer who works with Hawking personally, the relationship began when Intel’s Co-Founder, Gordon Moore spoke personally with Hawking, “Stephen and Gordon met at a conference around 1997. Gordon noted that Stephen was using an AMD machine. Gordon asked Stephen, ‘Would you like to use an Intel computer moving forward? We’d be happy to build that for you and support it.‘ ”

If you’re wondering what’s powering Hawking’s latest PC, which is updated every 2 years, he’s sporting a Lenovo X220 tablet PC, with an Intel Core i7 processor. What’s really cool about the custom build is how it recognizes Hawking’s commands for his voice synthesizer.

Originally, Hawking would use a clicker which he could highlight various commands or words and then communicate them through the synthesizer. However, the nerve which allowed him the use of his thumbs would degrade which required Intel to devise a new solution. They eventually developed an infrared sensor which hangs off of Hawking’s glasses. The sensor detects light changes as he twitches his cheek, and allows him to select commands. Which is amazing. Watch it in action below.

Bonifield has been working with Hawking since 2001, when he took over the position from a previous engineer. One aspect of the job is having to deliver the PC’s from America to England, where Hawking lives. Bonifield mentions one of the less than glorious aspects of the project, “I actually take two systems out to Stephen [one is a backup]. One year I packed them in cases, checked them in as luggage and the airlines lost them for three days. The year after that I thought I’d ship them ahead of time. They got held up in customs for 3 days. This time I got lucky. My luggage showed up with me [laughs].”

Below is a photo of Bonifield holding up a replica of the custom PC he developed for Hawking, and a video of Hawking’s grad assistant installing it.

ROCCAT Studios, a German manufacturer of professional PC gaming devices and equipment, revealed at CES today the full details of their entrance into the US market.

Beginning in mid-February, Amazon will begin shipping out ROCCAT’s lineup of gaming keyboards, mice, headsets and additional accessories. The three main products being shown at CES are the Isku illuminated gaming keyboard, the Kone[+] gaming mouse and the Kave 5.1 Surround Sound gaming headset.

The Isku keyboard may just look like an awesome illuminated keyboard until it’s combined with the Kone[+] gaming mouse. The two accessories use the company’s proprietary ROCCAT Talk protocol which allows the keyboard and mouse to communicate. This allows the user to execute mouse macros quickly with the keyboard. It also allows for the user to control the dpi settings of the mouse through the keyboard for precise aiming. The keyboard will be available for $89.99 in mid-February.

The Kone[+] gaming mouse is by itself a ridiculous piece of hardware with a 6000dpi laser sensor that works with a 10.5 megapixel resolution and 1000Hz polling rate. Essentially, this mouse is ridiculously fast and can react to all kinds of movement without any kind of input lag.

The mouse also features software that allows the user to assign two functions to each mouse button, effectively doubling its usefulness. The mouse itself houses 576kb of onboard memory that will save up to five control profiles so switching between settings isn’t even a problem. It also features 20 presets for the top 20 PC games on the market right now. Last but not least, it features a weight system comprising four 5g weights allowing the user to customize the weight of the mouse to their preference. The mouse will be available in mid-February as well for $79.99.

Finally, there is the Kave 5.1 surround soung gaming headset. While seemingly not as fantastic as the mouse and keyboard combo, it would not be wise to count this headset out. It’s your standard surround sound headset with a great desktop remote that has numerous slides that control front, center and rear sounds. A small innovation that is nonetheless appreciated is a small blue LED light on the mic that informs the player of when the mute function is on. The headset will be available at the same time for $119.99.

Any PC gamer should be excited for the launch of these products. Not only do they look good, they have many features that aren’t seen in a vast majority of gaming PC peripherals. They are also cost effective which is a major plus in the PC gaming market.

Vizio’s new PC line is comprised of two desktop all-in-one PCs, one notebook, and two thin and light notebooks. Vizio’s decision to enter the computer market stems from an awareness of the increasing role of our computers in entertainment – particularly in video streaming. With these computers, Vizio set out to create devices “that can stream content for a family movie night and put together an important business presentation the following day.” That is, Vizio wants to make computers that meet users’ entertainment needs and their business needs equally well.

The PCs will incorporate Vizio’s VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) system, which will allow for tight integration between users’ Vizio HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and PCs. There is no word on pricing yet, but the line is scheduled for a Spring 2012 release, so look for more information in the near future.

[Source: Vizio Press Release]

Microsoft Flight Simulator, whether you call it a game or a tutorial program, is one of the most recognizable programs from the last few decades of PCs. It has been through numerous alterations and been updated a dozen or so times, but Microsoft Flight is apparently going to revamp the franchise more than any previous version.

According to Microsoft, here’s the mindset with which they built the new game:

With “Microsoft Flight” we’re approaching the virtual flight genre from the ground up, with the focus on the universal appeal of the experience of Flight. We believe the simplicity of “Microsoft Flight” perfectly captures that vision while welcoming the millions of existing Flight Simulator fans. The new “Microsoft Flight” retains the full fidelity simulation longtime fans have come to expect while offering all players a whole new look and feel, a wide range of new game play and challenges, persistent experiences and social connectivity.

They announced Microsoft Flight back in 2010, and today Microsoft says that the game will be available as a free download this Spring. Players will fly over Hawaii in an ICON A5, completing challenges and finding hidden “aerocaches.” The ICON A5 is designed by the engineers behind the Voyager and is referred to as the “jet ski for the skies.” Virtual pilots will have the chance to fly it before it even enters real-world production (slated for the end of 2012).

The game will fit the free-to-play model, charging players for things like additional challenges, planes and “maps” to fly over.

Flight will also feature Games for Windows – LIVE capabilities that allow for global multiplayer, automatic content updates, and achievements

“Many people dream of flying, but few have the chance to experience the fun of exploring the world from above. Microsoft Flight provides players the opportunity to explore that curiosity and interest,” said Joshua Howard, executive producer of Microsoft Flight. “Aviation can be incredibly technical, but we’ve taken great care to build an experience that makes taking to the skies thrilling and accessible for everyone.”

It looks like Microsoft wants to keep the basic feel and difficulty level for seasoned veterans of the series but also make it more accessible to folks that simply want to fly around.

Good, because all I can remember about Flight Simulator is crashing.

The U.S. PC market reached a new record of nearly 20.7 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09), resulting in year-on-year growth of 24 percent. Other regions also experienced solid growth, particularly emerging markets in Asia/Pacific and Latin America, leading the global market to 15.2 percent year-on-year growth for the quarter. According to IDC, this marked the first quarter of double-digit volume growth since 3Q08.

Along with continuing price cuts throughout the year, other factors were in play in the fourth quarter. Following a number of improving economic indicators, which began in 3Q09, pent-up demand led buyers to focus on a variety of value-oriented notebooks that dominated the landscape in the holiday season.

"The U.S. market exploded in the fourth quarter, driven by a series of factors contributing to the unexpected 24% year-on-year growth. First is the rubber-band effect and recovery from the year-ago quarter, which suffered from buyer contraction when the economic crisis was confirmed," said David Daoud, research manager, IDC U.S. Quarterly PC Tracker.

"The vendors responded with new low price points to stimulate demand and face competition. In this context, low-cost notebooks and mininotebooks were the biggest contributors to the successful fourth quarter. Once again, the consumer market overcame the weak commercial sector to save the quarter."

When it came to vendors, HP had strong market performance in all regions except Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with solid shipments in the U.S. from holiday retail sales. It also gained double-digit growth in the emerging markets of Asia/Pacific and Latin America.

Dell moved back into positive territory after four quarters of yearly declines. The company managed overall growth of 5 percent and gains of 24 percent in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan).

"The market has weathered a storm which looks to be behind us," says Jay Chou, research analyst, Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

"But salvaging decreasing margins will soon become even more pertinent as one considers the long-term effects of holding market share at the cost of profitability. Without an effective strategy to convey a clear usage model and feature set tied to each segment, the market will inevitably continue down the slippery slope of ‘good-enough’ computing sold to the lowest bidder."

Related Articles:

> PC Market To See Positive Growth In Q4

> Global PC Market Up 16%

> PC Shipments To See Record Decline

Magazines as a whole are facing increasing competition from their online foes which are eating into advertising revenue. Coupled with a general economic malaise that is getting a tighter grip on the world economy and the increase in the raw material costs to print a magazine it was a bit of a no-brainer to shut down the print version. Right now the online version of the magazine generates 70% of the revenue and 80% of the profit of PC Mag.

This is a natural progression as the online edition of the publication was the first stop for news anyway. It’s kind of hard to be on top of the breaking news in any industry when you only go to print once a month. That’s so 80’s!

The magazine’s circulation is ½ of what it was in the late 1990’s. The magazine industry as a whole is suffering a 17% decrease in ad pages for December of 2008 when compared to December of 2007 according to the Media Industry Newsletter. This is the latest magazine to say goodbye to its print edition and my suspicion is that many will follow suit in the very near future.

What are some titles that you think will be online only in the next year or so? Are there any magazines that you would rather have in a print edition v. an online one? What place will magazines play in the future of media and marketing? Looking forward to some Pilgrim input for this one.

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So having eaten my lunch while MythBusters was playing on Discovery, I finally opened up the box containing my new MacBook 2.1 Ghz machine (a freebie bundled together with my new 10mbps DSL plan).

While Jamie and Adam are firing machine guns into the side on a car on the screen, I’m pulling the polycarbonate-sheathed laptop out of the box.

First reaction: This thing is pretty heavy compared to my Fujitsu Lifebook ultra-portable.

Second reaction: The graphics are really pretty (I can see why Sam Harrelson and Shawn Collins get into their Asus eee/Apple/Dell Vostro bickering matches)

Third reaction: I don’t quite like the tactile feel of the keyboard. The keys don’t have the “sink” of a traditional keyboard (but that could be easily remedied with a regular-sized USB keyboard). I am just wondering why the Apple developers don’t include the “double tap” on the touchpad simulating a mouse click – that would greatly enhance productivity.

Fourth reaction: I’m not too certain what the Mac equivalents of “control-a”, “control-c” and “control-v” are on the Mac. I think it’s the “open Apple” button.

My first “proper” computer ever was an Apple ][e and I spent 3 years as a desktop production editor working on Apple Quadras in the early 1990s, so I think I’ll be able to make the transition.

I’m still mulling over Geordie Carswell’s advice to ditch the default 1GB of ram and go for the 4GB max.

The MacBook seems to have a proprietary interface for connecting an external monitor, so I still have to figure that one out.

And yes, the absence of a mouse is sorely missed.

As far as I’m aware, Google AdWords Editor does not run on OS X, unless you’re running Basecamp or Parallels or some other cross-platform…It’ll all have to wait till tax season is over and I’ll have time to fiddle with it.

The iSight built-in webcam seems to take pretty killer pictures though…

At times like this, I’m glad that my skype contact list is filled with a host of Apple geeks.

More updates after April 15th.

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