YouTuber Pyloneer made the filter based on a related tweak for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. The screenshot above shows Diablo III (or at least its beta) with the filter turned on, while the screenshot below shows the game with the filter turned off.

Watch Pyloneer’s demo video to get a better look at the effect. Pyloneer constantly toggles the filter which is kind of annoying; then again that’s the whole point of the video. I suggest you watch it in full screen at 1080p if you can.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you may have noticed, not only is the game darker with the filter turned on, the graphics are significantly sharper too. Pyloneer was considerate enough to make three variants for the filter – one that darkens and sharpens, one that only darkens and one that only sharpens the graphics. You can find the instructions and links to the files in the video’s description on YouTube. There are also caveats in there so make sure you read and understand Pyloneer’s warnings. Sadly I know of no mod that can transform the Diablo III beta into the retail version of the game.

[via Ubergizmo]

Aren’t they just gorgeous? The designs are bright, bold, spunky, and right up my alley. Each of these will come with a small USB receiver as well as BlueTrack optical tracking. The designers behind the project are Kirra Jamison, Matt Moore, Linn Olofsdotter, Mike Perry and Jonny Wan.

There are a total of six designs in the series. The one at the right in the photo above is the one I’m dying to have. There’s just something about bright colors and abstract lines with floral undertones that just get to me.

The Mobile Mouse 3500 Artist Edition will be available for $30 each next month. Which of the designs scream “you?”

[via Geeky Gadgets via Slippery Brick]

The Samaritan demo shows off a variety of new effects the engine can pump out thanks to DirectX11. The latest update to the engine adds tesselation and displacement, geometry shaders, multisampled textures, shader model 5 support, and high-end features like subsurface light scattering, Bokeh depth-of-field effects, and significant improvements to reflections and shadows.

The demo was initially shown at last week’s 2011 GDC show, and now we all get to enjoy the footage. Be sure to crank your display up to full screen mode and switch to one of the HD modes to really get the most out of it:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Pretty incredible, no? I for one can’t wait for games to look this good. I know that the hardware on your average PC or gaming console isn’t quite up to this challenge yet, but I’m happy to hear that Microsoft has already started hiring for their next-generation Xbox console, which I’ll bet will be able to handle it.

In the mean time, you can always grab the latest build of the Unreal Development Kit Beta and see if you can make any of it work on your PC.

[UDK via YouTube]

You can download the podcast from BioWare’s blog, but for those who don’t have the time, here’s the meaty part, as quoted by Exophase:

“One of the first things you’re going to see is improved graphics. We actually created the engine for Mass Effect 3 and used that to make Mass Effect 2 PS3. So we took the content, the story and all of the other assets that made up Mass Effect 2 and we put it into the Mass Effect 3 engine.

We’ve also gone ahead and made the experience much more solid on PS3. So for example the controls are geared towards the PS3 controller [although] you can switch it back to the old Xbox control style if you like. Other things like planet scanning have been improved; we’ve rolled up all of the patches; done a whole bunch of bug fixing.”

Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 drops on January 31, 2011. You can pre-order it at Amazon for $60 (USD).

The new version of the software is designed to exercise the latest in DirectX 11 gaming technology featuring such challenges as volumetric lighting, tessellation, depth of field and lens effects in real time. From the looks of the “deep sea” demo reel below, you’ll definitely want to upgrade your video card before giving this bad boy a whirl.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Expect 3DMark 11 to hit in Q3 2010. For more info, head on over to the Futuremark’s website.

[via CrunchGear]

It looks like the upgraded Nano-Suit has a new feature: the Distracto-Crotch. Must…look..away:

Check out the full-sized crotch pics at the Crymod forums.

[via Destructoid]

A “real person” was quoted as saying: “I went to the Sunnyvale one today and got to play the 360 version. I am so very disappointed to see the difference in textures and detail of the 360 version vs. the PS3. =( I know it’s DVD vs. BD, but I didn’t think it would be that noticeable. My boyfriend told me it’s fine if I wanna stick with the 360 version, but he’s going for the PS3 one now”, while a “game journalist” (apparently game journalists are not real people) supposedly said, “As expected, the 360 version was noticeably less crisp than its PS3 counterpart, but it still ran nicely.” One of my Square Enix outsiders gave me this screenshot to show the disparity between the two versions:

My god! Look how much more blurry it is on the Xbox 360 version! FUUUUUUUU – nah I just drew a line in the middle of one whole screenshot. I don’t even know which version it’s from. Got you for a second didn’t I? Anyway, from what the non-real person games journalist said, the differences – if there are indeed any – are subtle.

I hope the Xbox 360 version isn’t as gimped as the PS3 Bayonetta; I’m glad the patch allowed me to install game data on my PS3 to lessen the loading times, but I’d be lying if I said that the screen tearing and pop-ups weren’t annoying or distracting.

[via Maxconsole]

If I were Samuel Jackson I’d say: that is one huge motherf—— but I’m not Samuel Jackson, so I’ll just stare at the picture in disbelief.

This is mind-boggling. I’m sure the awesomeness will wear off once the game comes out, but for now this is epic scale redefined. Hopefully the rest of the game lives up to these tech demos. Read Chester’s full article and look for Kratos in the other pics over at Destructoid. Sony should make a Where’s Wally-esque picture book to promote the game.

The setting for Andreas Illiger’s Microsia is inside of a virtual “plant cell” of a leaf. As you move your cursor around, you touch “cellular particles” which will be used as triggers for the ambient sounds.

Microsia may look a bit like Flow, but it’s not about gameplay this time – it’s all about making music. Sounds are created by manipulating the position of  the particles, then turning them on to initiate sequences of sounds. Some of the particles set tone, while others modulate sounds or tempo. It’s really pretty cool once you actually read the instructions.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re intrigued by what you saw in the video clip, you can download the demo version of Microsia here. The full version normally retails for 19.95 (appx. $29 USD), but is currently on sale for 9.95 (appx. $15).

The source image is on the left, and the CG is the one on the right. Currently, MotionPortrait can modify the CG face by adding glasses or facial hair, as well as changing hairstyles. Click here or here to see an example of a MotionPortrait in action.

The CG face is still obviously artificial – the color is too pale, and the movements are a bit stiff – but it’s not that far off. MotionPortrait technology has been used in commercials in Japan, but I’m really hoping that the technology could be incorporated into video games someday.

Think of it: you snap a picture of yourself, upload it into your console, and it generates a CG face that you can use in games, complete with facial expressions. How awesome would it be to see a CG version of yourself playing basketball with the pros in NBA 2k15? Or be able to play Final Fantasy 25 with you as the hero? Technology: it’s the bee’s knees.

[via Tech on!]

The Inquirer’s Charlie Demerjian says sources have confirmed to him that Intel paid to get a new chip, code-named Larrabee, into Sony’s next console. Also per Demerjian’s sources, AMD will be handling Nintendo and Microsoft’s next-next gen systems under the ATI label. We’re gonna have to start working on a name for this round, because next-next gen is going to get difficult after a while.

Seems sudden, doesn’t it? There’s a bright side, however, and it’s that all this is rumor as yet, with nothing confirmed and no official statements made. In fact, Sony has already issued a denial about their purported switch to Intel, so this particular story may be a complete bust.  But one thing is pretty likely: these decisions are being made, and the reliability (or lack thereof) of Demerjian’s intel doesn’t change that. The future of gaming is just around the corner.

[The Inquirer via VentureBeat]

After looking at the gorgeous in-game screenshots that Microsoft released the other day, I was starting to get excited about this upcoming racer. Now that I’ve seen the video, I think Gran Turismo 5 should be watching its back.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While I’m sure that racing sim fanatics will espouse the wonders of GT5′s realistic driving models, I’ve always been a fan of the slightly more arcade-y feel of the PGR series. Besides, I’m a sucker for great graphics, and this title sure looks like it’s got plenty of those. Sure, it’s possible that this intro wasn’t done in-game, but if I know Bizarre Creations, you can expect the game to look nearly this good anyway.

You can download or stream the high-resolution video here.

By using a high-speed video projector, a spinning platform with a holographic diffuser and special decoding hardware, the display can crank out up to 5,000 real-time images per second. Once the display spins up to speed, it creates a fully 3D image that you can walk all the way around.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While I’m not sure that you’d want to get hit by this thing when it’s zipping around at full speed, the end result is pretty spectacular. As a matter of fact, the technology was the recipient of this SIGGRAPH’s Best Emerging Technology award for 2007.

[CGSociety via Geekologie]

While the YouTube clip below doesn’t really do justice to the visuals, you can get a pretty good idea of how immersive the graphics look in this highly anticipated horror/thriller game. Facial modeling and textures look very impressive and the environmental effects look pretty amazing too.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The best part is that all of the video is taken directly from real-time game footage (although I’d venture to guess this video is from a high-end PC, not a console.) To see it in all its glory, there’s a much better quality copy of this preview available for download from Atari’s official AITD5 website (registration required.)

Now if the gameplay can keep up with the graphics, this will definitely be one to check out when it comes out later this year.

[via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Gamespot recently conducted a side-by-side comparison of the graphics in several launch titles running on both the 360 and PS3. At best the PS3′s visuals were comparable to the 360, at worst, the PS3 was trounced in both texture detail and frame rate. Included in the evaluation was EA’s Fight Night Round 3, which EA was saying would have much improved visuals when compared to the Xbox 360 (including an “amazing sweat modeling engine”). Not only are the backgrounds and crowds arguably less detailed, the HDR lighting is far less realistic, and the game takes much longer to load. Now before you start flaming me with “but the game is a port” messages, the fact that they share the same library of models and textures should mean that the games would be nearly identical if the NVIDIA chip in the PS3 was as capable as the ATI chip in the Xbox 360.

That said, some future games such as Motorstorm do show promise in the graphics department. As is the case in every generation, it takes a while for developers to learn all of the intricacies and tricks of a new console. There’s no doubt that we’ll see better graphics on the PS3 in the future, but it’s unlikely that they’ll ever achieve the cinematic quality boasted by Sony’s hype machine.