Evening Reading

Last night I grabbed the Xbox 360-exclusive Crysis 2 demo and played it for a couple hours. That proved to be plenty of time for me to see some of the struggles developer Crytek faces in bringing their technology to consoles. Much like the original Crysis overwhelmed the PCs of its day; this latest version of the engine seems to be pushing the limits of its intended hardware. While mostly running at a "locked" 30 frames per second, response to the controls felt sluggish in a way that left the impression that the 360 was having a tough time keeping up with the game.

With this generation of consoles lasting a while--Xbox 360 launched in late 2005, PS3 a year later--the passage of time gives PC gaming hardware an increasingly substantial advantage. At something like say $1000, a modern entry-level gaming rig can be had that packs an awful lot of power. And with so many multiplatform games including PC in the mix, wouldn't it be funny if the PC wound up being the best place to play them after so much energy went to making them console-friendly.

Here are the highlights from today's video game news on the Shack:

• BioWare Details Dragon Age Legends Bonus Content

• PlayStation Phone Revealed as "Xperia Play"

• Rage Screens Battle for Top Spot as Our Desktop Wallpaper

• Magicka Sells 30,000 Copies in One Day

• Crytek Aware of Crysis 2 Demo Issues, Working 'As Quickly as Possible' on Fixes