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NVIDIA nTeresting Newsletter – 4 Mo-vember 2013


NVIDIA nTeresting Newsletter – 4 Mo-vember 2013

In this issue:

· ShadowPlay is out and awesome. It is a DVR for your gaming highlights.
· SHIELD owners get a massive, game changing upgrade.
· GeForce GTX 780 Ti ascends to the throne and makes those below it better values.
· GeForce drivers prove to be the best for Battlefield 4, are praised by gaming icons.
· Scientists are using GPUs to study flying snakes. Creepy, I know right.

A DVR for your PC games

The recent release of GeForce Experience 1.7 marked the first appearance GeForce ShadowPlay. ShadowPlay is a free, fast, easy-to-use, gameplay-recording mode that allows you to record video of your most exciting gaming moments and share it with the world.

“ShadowPlay is a winner. Making use of the H.264 encoder on all GTX 650 video cards or higher is smart business. You a get great ultra smooth slice of captured gameplay with nearly zero framerate loss while recording.”

Think, a DVR for your PC games.

“Now that is some amazing recording technology NVIDIA has implemented for those who have the supported GPU’s.”

“It’s remarkably impressive. If you’ve ever had to use recording software before, especially FRAPS, and suffered as a result, ShadowPlay will seem like a gift from the gods.”

You can read more about GeForce Experience 1.7 and ShadowPlay here.

NVIDIA SHIELD Is Changing the Game, Again

SHIELD’s growing army of portable gamers have come to love taking it on-the-go, “anywhere.” And with the October Software Update, available for all SHIELD owners, there’s even more to find irresistible.

First, Gamepad Mapper allows for touch-only games to be played with SHIELD’s physical controls. Now you’ll be able to say “later, touchscreen” and fly by your buddies in Need For Speed: Most Wanted or go all “BOOM SHAKALAKA” in NBA Jam. Over 100 games have profiles in the cloud and will automatically appear when you run one of those games. Favorite game isn’t mapped? Fret not as the feature allows you to add custom controls to almost any game available on Google Play.

“It’s like NVIDIA heard my plea from afar and delivered with haste, because the newest OTA includes what NVIDIA is calling Gamepad Mapper, a stupid-simple button mapping solution that makes virtually any game compatible with SHIELD’s controller. It’s amazing.”

“Probably the coolest thing about GamePad Mapper is that any profiles you set for your games, can then be shared with your friends so they don’t have to go through the pain of making the profiles themselves.”

Second, PC streaming has hit its official launch – and garnered a new name: NVIDIA GameStream. Improvements to the streaming experience include optimizations for game-speed Wi-Fi with ultra-low latency and up to 60 frames per second.

“PC streaming is more reliable and seamless than ever before.”

“The PC streaming is a huge benefit to anyone who finds themselves glued to their PC for hours addicted to new games; being able to take that with you anywhere around the house you want to go is a huge boon.”

“[GameStream is] incredibly cool… It’s been quite liberating.”

“With such a massive update, the SHIELD should be looking pretty sweet right now if you’ve been thinking of purchasing the handheld.”

Third, Console Mode brings SHIELD to the big-screen. Connect a mini-HDMI cable and SHIELD will output to the TV in 1080p for most apps, games and movies. Coupled with GameStream and you can now play PC games on your big screen TV in 720p without having to drag your PC into the living room.

“Console mode is actually really easy and fun. The ability to kick back and play games properly, wirelessly on the couch, is great.”

“Console mode turns your Shield into a bona fide micro-console, but not the lame kind.”

Finally, the software update brings Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to SHIELD along with the ability to move .APK and .OBB files to MicroSD cards.

“The device is being bumped up to Android 4.3, sticking to plans of having the most current versions of Android running on the device. That is something we as the Android community appreciate immensely.”

“Another key feature will be universally welcome, though: NVIDIA’s finally added the ability to put giant Android games entirely on a microSD card.”

Add all the features that have gone into the October Software Update and SHIELD has “hit another home run.”

As of now, this is by far the absolute best Android gaming experience in all categories… Well done, NVIDIA.”

“[SHIELD] is mobile gaming done right.”

“NVIDIA is improving its Android-based SHIELD handheld and giving gamers more reasons to pick it up.”

New Card, New Prices

Earlier in October we announced the GeForce GTX 780 Ti at our Montreal press event. This week we announced that it will be available for sale starting on November 7th at a suggested e-tail price of $699. To make room, GeForce GTX 780 is now only $499 and GeForce GTX 770 is now only $329.

“…. NVIDIA heads into the holidays with the better value.”

In addition, “The Way It’s Meant to Be Played Holiday Bundle with SHIELD” promotion has been expanded to include the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. You get a free copy of Batman: Arkham Origins, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus $100 off a SHIELD purchase when you purchase a GeForce GTX 780 Ti/780/770. If you purchase a GeForce GTX 760/660 you will receive Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus $50 off a SHIELD purchase.

Drivers Make the Difference

Your gaming GPU is only as good as your drivers. And no drivers are better than NVIDIA’s. Day-of-launch drivers that work are only one of several reasons to buy NVIDIA GPUs.

“Since AMD is supposed to be working closely with Battlefield 4’s developers, I’m surprised that it’s taken three drivers to get Radeon support sorted out. NVIDIA released WHQL-certified drivers tuned for BF4 on Monday, and we haven’t seen new GeForce betas since. That doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing for GeForce owners, of course, but it suggests that NVIDIA may have been better prepared for BF4’s debut.”

Buying games to bundle does not equal ‘working closely with developers’. NVIDIA’s GameWorks team has been the driving force pushing technology forward in PC gaming for more than a decade.

“I’m going to be really happy if NVIDIA can capture some share in mobile since NVIDIA devrel, tools, and driver team that’s probably better than everybody else in the industry together.” – John Carmack, iD software

“The only mobile platform we can run our next-gen game platform on is NVIDIA’s they’re working on. HW in other devices is capable of the GPU performance, but they’re losing it all in software.”- Tim Sweeney, Epic Games

Working closely with developers during the lifecycle of their games is something NVIDIA has always taken very seriously and to which we’ve committed more resources than any other IHV in the industry.

These Snakes Don’t Need a Plane

What is creepier than snakes? Snakes that fly! Scientists want to know how they do it, so they use NVIDIA technology to study them.

“Scientists have been living in an golden age of computer simulation, as they’ve discovered that these graphical processing units are good for more than speeding up explosions in Call of Duty. They are also great for certain types of mathematical work, such as simulating flying snakes”

Read more on the NVIDIA blog.