TopWare Interactive aims to raise the bar for RPGs with it’s upcoming release of Two Worlds II. This sequel to the original hit Two Worlds will take players back to the world of Antaloor to explore the deserts and temples of the East.

Two Worlds II features a brand new engine from Reality Pump that makes the most of dynamic light sources, micro-detail Parallax Mapping, 24 Bit HDR Post Processing, Space Ambient Occlusion and Human Eye Accommodation. The AI and balancing standards have been overhauled as well. The new storyline features the work of experienced authors and the active combat system puts the adventure into this RPG.

When they claim that Two Worlds II will set new standards for graphical excellence, they aren’t bluffing. Just take a look as these screenshots.

Look for Two Worlds II for the PC, Mac and Next-Gen consoles this winter.

Got coding skills? Like the movie WarGames? Like the idea of your “binary baby” killing virtual billions? More importantly, do you like cash?

If you said “You bet.”, then heads up.

Introversion Software has teamed up with the organizers of CIG 2009 to establish a competition aimed to create “the world’s deadliest bot.” The contest, slated for September, is part of an ongoing yearly event that draws in programming talent from abroad in an attempt to create bots from videogames that are “realistic enough into fooling an expert panel of judges that they are actually human players.”

Not surprisingly, the game chosen as the playground for this year’s contest is none other than Introversion’s own nuclear holocaust simulator DEFCON (thumbs up here). And thanks to the concerted efforts of Computer Science geeks over at Imperial College, London, potential contestants now have a practical DEFCON API to prepare with.

Basically, the rules (here) are that programmers will pit their individual DEFCON A.I. against one another in a series (30 actually) of one-on-one matches among each of the possible starting territory configurations. The player with the highest cumulative score wins. Additionally, the grand prize winner’s human creator takes home $500, courtesy of IEEE. At this point, I’m still trying to figure out if you actually have to be physically present to participate.

Anyway, if you are interested in putting your coding skills to the test, you can start by reading here. An important thing to note is that the DEFCON API will also work with the DEFCON demo, which can be freely downloaded here. Again, deadlines and rules for the contest can be found via the IEEE’s CIG website. The press release found after the break contains all sorts of info, links, and contact information.

For those of you chortling “the only winning move is not to play,” I say what’s the worse that could happen? Well, I suppose Barry Corbin could break the bad news to you in person by knocking on your door then announcing his “conclusion that your new defense system sucks.”

Ok, I’ll stop…

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The latest details and version release dates for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 are up on Tech ARP. The latest patch for the troubled Vista OS also applies to Windows Server 2008 bringing it up to Release 2. Microsoft is rushing SP2 out in hopes that consumers will buy Vista rather than waiting for the imminent Windows 7 release.

Personally I don’t have too much trouble with Vista. Once it’s lobotomized, it’s really not all that bad. Of course you’ll want to be extra vigilant with your spyware, adware, and virus programs, but I guess that’s the price you pay for the right to admin your own system.

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Everyone knows that there’s a lot of illicit material on the internet. Everyone also knows that there a lot of enforcement efforts directed at finding the PCs that are the source for this type of content.

As you may or may not know, this has resulted in a number of criminals storing things they want to keep hidden on their XBox hard drives. According to authorities, this includes a fair amount of child pornography.

You see, the original XBox hard drive has always been able to be modified to make the console act like a PC. Interestingly, there’s no physical evidence this has been done. With current forensics software, investigators cannot examine the bit by bit information stored on the XBox hard drive, meaning that it stays hidden.

In an effort to alleviate this issue, David Collins, a computer scientist at Sam Houston State University, has created a tool that allows authorities to find these hidden files. The program, known as XFT, is the first ever developed for forensic technicians to read XBoxes. Not only does the tool read the information, it record the investigation as it takes place, and allows the recording to be replayed in court.

Now, I know some of you may want to scream about your privacy for your files, but in my opinion, anything that shows that these people are not actually gamers is fine with me. Don’t we have enough of a black eye with the general public? I think so. What we don’t need is for investigators to find a child pornographer storing files on his XBox, and publish news referring to him as a gamer.

What do you think?

In an experiment that most likely involved carting some residents from the old folks home to an internet cafe, researchers have determined that playing strategy games can improve the mental skills of senior citizens. The researchers tested a number of games before selecting 2003’s Rise of Nations — in which players set out to maintain and advance a civilization from ancient times to the modern age in real-time — to use in the experiment. The study showed that adults in their 60s and 70s that played the game would later exhibit cognitive skills not directly related to gameplay. Overall, the group that played games performed better in reasoning and memory tests than a control group. They were also able to switch between tasks at a much faster rate and seemed to have a much stronger short-term memory. On the other hand, researchers found that the game had no effect on long-term memory functions.

I suppose the results of this study make sense in a way. Most of the old people I know spend a lot of their time watching The History Channel, so essentially playing The History Channel would probably be an improvement. Of course, that history could also include the daring defeat of the spear-wielding Americans at the hand of the Incas and their nukes.

A new article on ExtremeTech pits antivirus software against some of the most demanding PC games around. AVG Free, BitDefender (GameDefender edition), Kaspersky and Norton (Gaming Edition) each face off against Crysis, Company of Heroes, Far Cry 2, Supreme Commander and World in Conflict.

ExtremeTech compared the performance of each game on a control system with and without each of the antivirus programs running. Between performance and price points you can get a fairly good idea of which of these software options are best for your gaming PC. Check out the final results from Gaming Performance Versus Antivirus Software on ExtremeTech.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the German RPG Maker PC game Vampires Dawn, you may just be in for a bit of a bloody treat because according to a recent press release, the game is heading to the Nintendo DS.

Fans of the game have been privy to its wicked black humor and elaborate magic and fighting system for quite some time, and thanks to the Austrian development studio ClockStone (Avencast) the game is now heading to the Nintendo DS. ClockStone will be working with Vampires Dawn creator Dawnatic and while there are currently no screens for the game nor a concrete release date set in stone, those working on the game feel that the character controls and puzzle mechanics from the original game will transfer very well and easily over onto the DS.

While there are some in the U.S. that may be unfamiliar with the title, it has a great reception over in Germany and Austria, and if you compound that with the world’s lust for RPGs on the DS, it sounds like a good combination. Hopefully, we will get some screens in sometime soon so we can actually see what it is looking like.

There are at least 8 little known tricks to the Firefox 3.0 web browser that you should know and ExtremeTech is prepared to enlighten you. Resizing tool bars to give you a little extra room to work with is fairly cosmetic, but can make your life easier. There are instructions on how to create smart bookmarks, duplicate tabs and specify your default email service. You can modify or eliminate close tab buttons and change the way Firefox 3.0’s Awesome bar works. The browser also lets you assign smart keywords for any site with a search engine allowing you to search from your address bar.

Number 8 is the biggest trick of all for Firefox 3.0 and a gaping hole in you personal Internet security fortress that should be plugged quickly. Never fear, the solution to this particular security problem can be easily fixed once you know about it.

Read the full Firefox 3: 8 Untold Secrets on ExtremeTech to get in the know.

The Air Force Research Laboratory is using X-Plane to develop a pilot training program. X-Plane features a system to download real weather for your flight simulations. It handles both subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics as well as space flight via the Space Shuttle.

The AFRL at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is supervising the use of Laminar Research’s commercial title X-plane with military-specific databases to reduce the time and cost of developing a training program for warplane pilots.

The AFRL is actually in the process of recruiting government, industry and academic experts as partners in shared-technology development. If you have skills you think would benefit the U.S. Air Force, you can read more about the effort and find contact information on Dayton B2B.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Well apparently this guy never did since he strapped a freakin’ chainsaw to the bottom of an assault rifle, effectively making a working Lancer like the ones in Gears of War. In fact, he even went one better, making the “full-auto bayonet” attachable to other guns, including a 12-gauge shotgun. Crazy? Maybe, but if there’s ever a zombie/Locust uprising, I’d want a guy like that with me. Be sure to check out the video below of this contraption wreaking havoc on some unsuspecting pumpkins.